Mass Effect: Warbringer
by Freedom Guard
Summary: A part time creation I finally finished when my PC went dark last year and decided to place it in. It is a pet project and will not be updated for a while, so tell me what you all think of it until then. Pairings undecided so please give ideas to me.
1. Chapter 1

Fallout NV X Mass Effect: Warbringer

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Fallout New Vegas or to Mass Effect so don't bother asking if I do…

Prologue

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Sink…

Travis Marlowe had been plenty of things in his life, Lady Killer, smooth-talker, gun expert, explosives nut, loved using energy weapons, an avid user of blades, a standup kind of man, a bit of a geek at times, and very handy with hand to hand, and had a heart of gold and a moral conscience that was considered extremely rare considering where he grew up, but he was never a very patient person. He had been a Courier, a simple messenger who carried all manner of things and messages from one end of the map to the next. But this one job had set him to a path that he had NO idea about, all he thought was he was taking a simple though slightly odd job.

But now he was a veritable legend in the Mojave Wasteland…the Courier who cheated death not once, not twice….but multiple times, changed the whole Mojave Wasteland and had helped the New California Republic to finally take control of the New Vegas Strip. He was never part of the NCR, but he was now considered as one of the greatest heroes of the military there. And to the once proud and brutal remains of what was left of Caesar's Legion, he was the Scourge of the East, the man who not only slew Caesar, but killed Legate Lanius in single combat to the death and sent the Legion running by the end of the battle.

He also took down House and did quite a number on the Fiends as well, sending the Fiends running to the four winds or hunted them down, and with House gone, the NCR went on to keep the Strip for itself and use it to feed their forces. People in Freeside or Westside might have seen his actions as wrong, but he knew that the actions he took were better in the long run. At least with a lot of order going about, Fiends and more were no longer going to be a major concern in the wastes.

Cass was right, and so was Boone, the NCR might not have been the best, a bit too greedy, and also spending too much, but one thing was sure in their minds as well as his, they needed only direction and a purpose, and they could do good things. Besides that, while there was no doubt some less than good people in the NCR who profited from the sweat and blood of others, not all of them were callous and greedy, some like Private Stone had some justification, and there were people like Private Christina Morales and her husband who did it for good reasons, Colonel James Hsu who really worked hard to make the most of it, Ambassador Crocker who was doing a hard task in trying to be diplomatic when more than one member of the NCR was more interested in using bullets than words, and more that he had met in his long travels in the Mojave. Those people in the NCR were the right kind of people and while he could name others, he was not into working too hard about it.

As for him…he decided to leave the Mojave Express behind and leave being a Courier, sure the fame was nice, but too much of it was a bad thing. That and the fact that while he made more than his fair share of friends, he also made a fair share of enemies as well. The Legion still wanted his life even after he killed their leaders, last he heard a conclave or whatever that meant of Centurions and some Praetorian Guard had begun to place bounties on his head…a huge set of bounties as well. Not to mention the fact that there were more than enough greedy mercs after him as well as a number of people trying to make a name for themselves on his hide.

The NCR were more than willing to help him and more than once and he had been helped by more than willing NCR troopers who shot up the enemy who came to come after him. Rangers, both the regular Rangers and the Veterans who spotted him fighting who knew what would go in and save his bacon. He was not unappreciative for the aid and knew that he deserved it for all that he had done, but he was not happy with the idea of them risking their lives for his sake.

The Kings did the same thing, any Great Khans around also swooped in to save his bacon and so did the Brotherhood once in a while, but he did not want to them since they had other things to do with their time. The same could be said for Boomers since the last thing he wanted was to go there and bring his troubles on them, they had the firepower and the guns to hold anyone off, but he wanted not to drag them into anything that they did not need.

.And that was why he was here in the Big MT, namely the Sink, not many people knew just where the MT was, and even if they had SOME vague idea where it was, the dangers of the place and the fact that it looked like the granddaddy of nuclear blast sites made coming here a real pain in the neck and seemingly suicidal. And while the safe houses he got from the Followers, the Brotherhood, and the NCR were secure and more than useful and comfortable, he wanted to keep out of the limelight or whatever that meant. And he had access to supplies thanks to the Sink's AI providing him with supplies and whatever he needed thanks to the special technology there in the Sink.

That hardly meant that he was gone from the Wasteland though, he would routinely go back there to check up on the Mojave and also keep his skills sharp as well as connect with those he had been with from before when he managed to wake up after being shot in the head. This meant visiting places like Camp McCarren every now and then to see just how the place was holding up and what the NCR was doing.

Farber was pleased with supplies coming in from the Crimson Caravan and he was damn happy that the men and women he served with were finally getting some quality grub to feast on. As for him, he would routinely send Travis some well earned food every now and then. Colonel Hsu was pleased to see him and so was Major Dharti along with the 1st Recon team, and they were all right with him coming in and going whenever he wanted. Plus if anything came up, he would be more than ready to go there and help them out. Plus just about ever NCR trooper there from the regulars to some of the Heavy Troopers would routinely buy him a drink or even ask him on how he started out.

Dropping by Camp Forlorn Hope, or rather Camp Restored Hope as it was was good and Major Polatli was more than happy to have him drop by, with the Legion high tailing out of the area, the Camp was now better supplied, and the morale in the place was sky high, along with the men who were a lot better armed than they were in the past. The Major at times would inform him of raiding parties about and rogue Legion forces, and he would help them flush the bastards out. Plus with things as they were, the men and women in the place were far better off.

Bitter Springs was also in better straits as the people there who were refugees were now better supplied, housed, and fed with the guards there pleased that they were better off now and safe from possible attack from the Legion who might be around as well as the Mutants moving about in the sidelines. When he came there on occasion, he would make sure to drop off medical supplies as well as food which was something many refugees were thankful for.

Camp Golf had recovered from the massive Legion attack and was now a hotbed for training new recruits and also helping keep the NCR's soldiers and Rangers supplied and housed. The Misfits served well there and more than once he would chat with Mags, Poindexter, Razz, and O'Hamerrhan every once in a while to see how they were doing. And he was damned happy that they were doing well and were now working better as a team and as allies, when fighting the Legion side by side and realizing that their skills and team work were what kept them alive, made them better. Hell, he even told them that they might become Rangers well enough.

One of the longest journeys he ever made was to go back to California and meet up with the retired Chief Hanlon. It had been some time since the victory at Hoover Dam and the old ranger was welcoming of him, they shared some whiskey together and chatted about it. He was happy that Hanlon's worst fears had been unfounded and the efforts in Mojave were working out better than expected, and the old man was more than willing to say it.

Travis recalled the conversation well enough.

Hanlon: I have to admit it now…I let my fear get the better of me, and at least the rangers were never dragged into the mud and their names spat on. I doubt I could live with that.

Travis: You were right though, the Mojave would have broken the NCR, but retreating would have meant all those who died fighting for the NCR there in the Mojave have died for nothing. At least this time they were given some sense of closure that it's now in the hands of the NCR.

Hanlon: Yeah…you brought it there though, you know, in all my years as a Ranger, I have never found anyone as tough and resourceful as you…the fact that you willingly walked into Caesar's camp and then killed him right there and then with C-4 WIHOUT getting caught by his Praetorians and all of those Veteran Legionaries of his spoke volumes. I was worried that even with that man gone, the Legion would still be a threat that we could not beat…but you wiped the floor with them.

Hanlon drank his whiskey and sighed with a smile as he finished his speech.

Hanlon: Hell, I would have willingly walked all the way to the dam myself to see you take down Lanius in one on one combat and then take his head right in front of ever Legionary who was still there. That took some serious balls you know…we sent so many after that bastard and they did not win, you did and you even took his sword as proof along with that war mask of his. If you ever decide to be a Ranger, I'll be glad to give you my recommendations. After all you've done, it would be worth it.

Travis placed that thought aside and decided to go back into the Think Tank and see just what was the progress on those upgrades he had asked for when it concerned his weapons and armor. Not to mention the recreation of some of the guns he had been able to see in a GRA bazaar back in Shady Sands a year or so ago before he came to the Mojave.

…

In the Think Tank...

"Ah…my Lobotomite teddy bear has come at last!"

Travis shook his head at that as he was now before Dala and he spoke to the Think Tank.

"So how is the project?"

"Hmmm…these upgrades you requested cost us a fair penny to be sure, namely when it required us to reactivate the Saturnite Alloy Research Lab, but for you, me and the others did it good. These new and improved suits should be more than adequate for your needs my little teddy bear. Feel free to take them out for...what is that term again...ah yes 'a spin'."

Any other Wastelander would have been scared half out of their wits being called a teddy bear by a brain floating about in a robot, but Travis was used to Dala, in fact, she and a few others from this Think Tank were able to convince their…boss Klein not to go into the Wasteland, just like Morbius wanted. And after all he had seen, he had to agree, the last thing he wanted was for their creations and ideas to be loose in the Wasteland without supervision. But at the very least, they were more than able to give him support when he asked for it. With that in mind he turned to the newly upgraded suits of Armor.

He had collected QUITE the array of armors in his day, very much a need considering the pace he called home, along with the LESS than humane and friendly residents. He had a full T-51b Power Armor from his alliance with Brotherhood, minus the marks of course despite the alliance with the NCR, along with a T-45 Power Armor just in case he needed it, along with two of his prized Power Armor Suits, namely the Gannon Family Tesla Power Armor, and the two Remnants Power Armors, the first from his friend Arcade, and the other two from his little trip to that nest of Death Claws and from him helping reunite Arcade's 'family' for the Second Battle at Hoover Dam.

He also wore the Armor of the 87th Tribe, a suit of Armor resembling Lanius' own armor and served as his baseline Heavy Armor and despite looking like that of Legion creation, he was pleased to know that at the very least it was not recognized by everyone…even by the Legion. This was followed by a customized suit of NCR Salvaged Power Armor, it was not as advanced as he could take, but it was tough and with the upgrades of Saturnite Alloy and improved metal plates, it was as tough as the T-51 but at least did not have to be too heavy.

The upgrades installed into his Power Armors included Saturnite Alloy replacing most of the metallic casings and also was used for not just armor plating but also for inner protection from radiation and heat due to special filter systems installed into the Armor, so now the Power Armor he had were much stronger yet lighter as well. The Saturnite Alloy was also made to be thicker and stronger with improved hardened lattice structures to make sure that they would last longer. The Heavy Armors had a combination of metal and Saturnite Alloy so they were also harder and stronger to boot.

He also had with him his trusted sets of Medium Class Armor, namely the Combat Armor Reinforced Mark II that had saved his hide more than he cared to count, along with the Stealth Suit Mark II, though he noted that there seemed to be some changes done to it last time he had seen it. The armor was perfect in his mind when he needed to sneak around and despite it being armored, the upgrades he got while running it through it's paces were more than enough to counter the weight differences.

This was rounded off by the armors he collected over the years, namely the Ranger Armors he got from his alliance with the NCR. The Ranger Armor and the hat was all right by him and certainly comfortable plus the water sack on the back helped, and of course the Ranger Veteran Armor was also something that he was proud to have and it had saved his butt more times that he could count. There were also supported by the Advanced Riot Gear that he salvaged from his time in the Divide and also the US Army Armor. They too were upgraded with Saturnite Alloy Armor plates along with chemically hardened metal for extra protection.

He also had an array of Light Armors which had their metallic parts replaced with Saturnite Alloy, though the only one that did not have the changes was his Chinese Stealth Armor since doing that would have weighed it down. The other armors were made from Leather and the only time he had used these armors was when he needed speed and agility without sacrificing protection for those two things. He also had that duster that he got from Ulyssess back in the Divide and that was a certainly useful piece of gear that helped him out a lot when he needed it. And like all the rest it was a lot tougher now, most would have called the intense upgrades on all of his armor overkill, but he was not the regular kind of guy...and with a large number of people routinely gunning for his hide, better have that now than never.

Travis placed that aside for the time being and spoke to Dala.

"Thanks for that Dala, these will certainly come in handy just in case I run into trouble again. Anyway has there been anything happening here?"

"Not much I believe, the Lobotomites outside are still doing the same thing, and so are all the other creatures, but at the very least it's been...peaceful. Anyway, I should point out that we've had some issues with the teleportation technology."

"You've had problems?"

"I am sure, recently there have been some sudden energy spikes in the system and at times the coordinate systems get mixed up, we only noticed it after a while when you were there back in the Mojave, fighting those brutes, the Legion. So we've decided to run tests on it while making sure that if you come here. we would only allow it when we were not dealing with the spikes."

Travis did not like the sound of that, the last thing he wanted was go through the teleport systems and suddenly find himself in one place in the Mojave surrounded by who knows what, or coming to the Mojave all rearranged in an order that would have killed him or in pieces. None of that sounded the least bit pleasant to the young man as he decided to get those things packed up along with what other tools he had been bringing with him.

"Fair enough, what about some of the weapon mods I asked for?"

"They will be ready soon enough my dear teddy bear. I will tell you when you can go and get them all right?"

Travis nodded in appreciation as he decided to head back into the Sink and make some much needed purchases in terms of food, drink, ammunition, medical supplies, drugs, and whatnot before checking on the weapons that he had on hand.

He had quite the arsenal in his hands already and that was only possible through his above the norm strength, savvy storage sense, toughness, training in carrying heavy loads, and the Pip-boy that he had on him. Anyone else who carried the amounts of supplies, weapons, spare armor, food, drink, and ammunition he did would have broken his or her back a LONG time ago. The weapons he had were all good quality gear and thanks to him making sure to have Weapon Repair kits on hand when he was not close to a skilled repair expert, his gear was all ready for war. That massive arsenal of melee weapons, explosives, energy weapons, and guns was the key reason why he got that nickname of his which he found to be very accurate and poetic as well so he made darn sure he kept his supplies up to the standard.

Once he arrived in the Sink, he decided to get one last round of supplies from his A.I 'butler' and then head on back to the Mojave to see what was up. It was not long before he was informed that what he had asked for was now ready for him and he could now pick up the things he had asked for from the Think Tank.

...

He was soon back in the Think Tank as Dala and Dr. 0 came in with the rest of his gear, he smiled as he looked at all of the armor carefully and he soon moved to take them into his Pip-boy. He felt the weight of all of his Armor but did not mind at all as he took them in along with all of the new weapon upgrade mods that he had asked for. He decided to switch to his Stealth Suit Mark II and as soon as the suit materialized on him, he smiled a bit and was pleased that despite the changes it was not too different from before. He then turned to face Dala and gave the Think Tank a nice show of breathing in and out slowly, making Dala smile...as much as a floating brain in Med-Gel using screens could manage.

"Thanks for all the work you and the others did Dala. Now I need to go back to the Wasteland and see just what's been going on."

The Think Tanks spoke to him well and he made his way to the teleporter area which would take him back to the Wasteland, and as soon as he stood on the pad, he felt the energy come back on. The first time he felt it, he felt like someone was running a tingling electrical current running through his spine and nerves, and had given him a bad case of the shakes, but after some time, he was quite used to it. That did not mean however that he liked it at all as he readied himself for the transfer. Unfortunately for him, the very moment the teleporting system came to full power, the Sink A.I quickly warned him that a massive power spike had just struck the area.

But it was already too late as he was now being sent through the teleportation grid...just as the Think tanks tried to fix the problem. But when they were told by the Sink that Travis had just gone through the teleporter at the same moment the spike happened, things got bad...it only got worse when they discovered that the power spike had somehow messed up the coordinates to the satellite, sending Travis...elsewhere.

…

Klein was shocked by this and was already fuming at what had gone wrong as he and the other Think Tanks tried to figure out just what had happened…but there was no denying the fact that Travis had just disappeared through the teleporter and was NOT going back to the Mojave. One thing was coming out of Klein's mind and it was this.

Where had Travis gone?

…

"Damn it…I haven't felt this bad when I got attacked by a band of those pesky Praetorians who wanted to turn me into a punching bag."

Travis managed to shake his head and get up while still wearing his Stealth Suit Mark II and looked about to get his bearings. He was obviously not in the Sink anymore since the place looked like a valley of sorts. He had still a splitting headache but quickly decided to grab a shot of Med-X from his supplies to get the pain to stop. As soon as the drug kicked in, he felt better and began to look around and hope that instead of finding himself in the afterlife or in hell, whichever way one viewed his or her life, he was back in the Mojave. He was alive and taht helped him relax as he looked around, only to suddenly be wide eyed as the valley as some of the weirdest rock formations he had ever seen in his life...not to mention the fact that the sky...was purple! The sky was bloody purple!

For a brief moment, the Courier tried to figure out how the heck this happened and thought maybe he had been struck by some radiation that screwed his perceptions over. There was NO way the sky on the Mojave could purple on ANY time time of the day, and where was the drive by inn ruins that he would go to in order to go to the Big Empty and back to the Mojave?

But as soon as he recovered what wits he had and make some sense on what was going on, he spotted what appeared to be some sort of flying…thing coming down a fair distance from him. It looked like nothing he had seen before, neither the rockets from REPCONN or the planes in McCarran Airport and the bomber of the Boomers, heck, even the Vertibirds used by the Remnants of the NCR for ferrying their President looked ANYTHING like that thing. He felt the urge to go there and find out just who or what was in that thing, but his battle hardened senses told him not to try it, he needed to find out just what was going on.

He activated the Stealth Suit Mark II's installed Stealth Feature he had and then took out his Anti-Material Rifle which was from the GRA which had been given an upgrade by Dr. Morbius which was designed to amplify sounds and had a connection to his Pip-boy so he could hear what was being said by his target when he focused on the scope. The hero of the NCR looked through the scope and as soon as the ship landed and soon there was a hatch or whatever it was called that appeared and then he spotted some figures moving about.

(What the hell is that?)

Travis could not help but be surprised as he gazed a bit more, some of the figures were definitely humans, a few men and women, and some very nice looking ones at that. But they were wearing clothes that were totally unfamiliar to the Wasteland resident, they were too...clean and seemed to be made from fabric that was of higher quality, even to that of the suits he had seen on the Strip and what he had worn personally. But his attention was now focused on the figures that LOOKED human from a distance.

The figure he was looking at was definitely human shaped…and judging by the clothing on the figure, was female. And very well formed to boot and would have gotten quite the attention back at the Strip or anywhere in the Mojave, considering the rather interesting set of clothes. But what got his attention was the fact that she had blue skin, and had no hair. All he could see that could pass for hair was flaps of skin that looked flesh like. There were some odd tribal markings there and some sort of devices that he had no idea about.

There were a few others of the same being as well, though some had varied skin hues and patterns on the faces, and some wore some sort of…armored suit as it were and carried some weapons to boot, at least what looked like weapons. Travis had no idea what was going on here, but he knew that staying in one place was not good. The good news was that the people and whatever the blue skilled female aliens spoke the same English language that he was quite used to. That might be good news to him so he decided to move closer and see just what else he could find out before things went down south as it were. He moved down carefully and still had on the Stealth Boy though he knew that sooner or later, the power supply was soon going to run out. Once that happened, he knew that he was going to have to try and talk to the people that were in front of him.

Getting closer and closer to the collection of buildings allowed him to see that the people there were all human with the exception of those all female like beings he had seen already. He managed to make it in before he finally saw that his Stealth Boy was going out. he sighed a bit and knew that stealth was now out of the question and he only had a limited number of Stealth Boys left so he could not use them all up.

(Now I really wished I got more of these things when I could.)

He decided to take a risk and switched from his current choice of armor and moved to using his newly upgraded T-51 Power Armor and got the systems online. Once he was assured that everything was working the way it should, he gave himself a mental waking up and moved out of hiding. The very second he showed himself, he got quite the reaction from the people in the place. That was to be expected since it was not every day that someone walked up to you carrying an anti-material rifle and wearing power armor. The humans in the area were wide eyed and the same could be said for those blue skinned beings. as he moved closer and carrying his mammoth of a weapon. Then out came several humans armed and armored. The gear they had on them did not match the gear he had seen over the years, it all looked too...high tech and streamlined, no that he was complaining as one of the armed people was a very gorgeous looking woman with brown hair and green eyes and a body to boot.

His study of said person was cut short when she aimed what appeared to be some weird looking rifle at him and spoke in a no nonsense tone to him.

"Hold it right there! Stand still and hands where I can see them!"

Travis could tell that the woman was serious and he quickly stopped and moved his GRA Anti-Material Rifle to his back, hearing the specially made magnetic clamps he had installed into the Armor hold the weapon in place. He then raised his hands and spoke as he allowed them to get closer.

"Easy there Miss, I'm not here to cause trouble."

The woman snorted a bit and replied.

"I'll believe that when I know you better, now who the heck are you and what are you?"

"In answer to question one, the name's Travis Marlowe, and to the second, I'm human like you so chill, who are you anyways?"

The woman did not lower the weapon she had in front of him but seemed to be intent on asking him yet another question, and he was right on the monety.

"How can I be sure that you are a human anyway?"

Travis sighed and decided to grab his helmet and removed it quickly and sure enough, the people saw that he was human, and that seemed to relax them somewhat, something that he felt thankful for and hoped that it was going to stay that way. He then spoke to the woman who now lowered her weapon and ordered wordlessly to her companions to do the same thing. That was a good thing in Travis's mind as he decided to speak again to the woman and hope that it was a good choice of action.

"Are you happy now miss?"

The woman nodded and spoke.

"I am all right for now, anyway since you said your name already I will say mine, I am Dana Maxwell, Lieutenant of the Security here in the New Alaska Colony."

Travis raised an eyebrow at that as the name was not unknown to him, he like all residents of the Wasteland heard of Alaska and with the old piles of newspapers that he had been able to find, he knew that this was the battle field where the old US forces and the Chinese fought one another. He did not know what was going on but he decided to do something else. He continued to look at the alien women and wanted to find out just who and what they were.

"Thanks Miss Maxwell, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"All right, since you're not doing anything dangerous, you can ask what you like."

Travis nodded and then pointed at the Asari who were all looking at him with open curiosity and confusion.

"You mind telling me who and what they are over there?"

Dana looked to where he was pointing and she was not the only one as her men looked at the same direction. Once they saw the Asari, they looked back at Travis and could not help but be surprised. Dana raised an eyebrow in surprise since she expected that everyone knew who Asari were, but before she could reply to the question as strange as it sounded to him, one of the men under her command spoke. And this guy was not the least bit tactful in the direction of his question either.

"You have got to be kidding me, how can you ask that question, everyone knows who they are."

"Well excuse me buddy, I don't know them so humor me here."

"All right, they are Asari, from the Asari Republics."

Travis raised an eyebrow and spoke a bit more.

"Asari huh?"

Before things could go any further in whatever direction it could have gone, the people below pointed upwards and that was enough to get the attention of everyone in the security team and Travis as well. It was another ship but it looked to be something that looked more...predatory to those who saw it. Travis had no idea what it was but it did not look the least bit friendly. Dana frowned and looked at the ship and Travis noted that she then took something that looked like some sort of device and placed it like a loop on her head. There was some sort of glowing interface there and was over her right eye. He looked and noticed that she was now in a bad mood and her swearing told him that this was bad.

"A slaver Ship! Damn it!"

She did not focus on Travis and shouted to the people behind her and her men.

"Everyone get inside! Lock down your houses and get your weapons!"

The people did just that as they moved back into their houses, while the blue skinned alien ladies Travis now knew to be Asari moved back, or rather, one of them moved back while the others took out their weapons. The Courier decided that now was not the time to gawk as he decided to place back on his helmet as the ship deployed smaller looking shuttles to the ground. The group under Dana were already taking defensive positions beind the crates nearby and some tall posts as the shuttles landed. Travis tried to figure out what to do first as the shuttles opened and he soon heard the booms of weapons fire, and while different from what he used to hear in the Mojave, he ducked all the same and decided to get into the act as the T-51 was about to get a test drive as he took out his GRA Anti-material Rifle and rushed over to get some cover of his own.

Dana spotted him and was shocked that this armored guy was actually moving that fast in a suit of armor that she had next to no idea about.

"What the hell are you doing?-!"

She had no time to get an answer as she ducked as more rounds flew overhead, one moving merely inches past her and was deflected by her kinetic barrier, but to her shock the guy in the armor did NOT have one. Yet he seemed to be fine as he moved into cover and had no unslung that massive rifle from his back.

(Just who is this character?)

...

"Damn...this is about to get interesting for sure!"

Travis mentally spoke to himself as his position near the port allowed him to see just who the attackers were...and they were all bloody weird looking in his eyes.

They were as tall as he was without armor as far as he could see, but they had only three fingers on their hands and split toes like a bird's, and had BONES on their faces. They wore armor that appeared to be just as high tech looking as what Dana and her team were wearing and to his surprise, the things were speaking english!

"By the Spirits! What sort of armor is that?"

"Don't know, weird looking though."

"Doesn't matter, we're here to get some creds, so let's get them!"

Travis had NO idea how the heck those strange looking...things...were speaking his language, but now was not the time as he ducked from the incoming fire. He had no idea what sort of weapons those guys were packing or Dana's team for that matter, but it was very obvious that they were not carrying those to look cool. He was happy that he had the Armor he had one repaired and upgraded otherwise he would be dead as the weapons seemed to be like the Gauss Rifle he would routinely use at times though they seemed to be releasing those red hot things after firing a number of times. He place those thoughts aside and quickly moved to aim his GRA made Anti-Material Rifle and managed to spot one of those bone faced figures in armor get up to fire at him.

He aimed and pressed the trigger and the weapon roared out and that was more than enough to send the massive High Explosive round smashing into the face of the alien...blowing the head right off!

BOOM!

He had no idea just how much improved high explosive primer filling the GRA boys had been stuffing into the Anti-Material Rifle's rounds lately but he was not going to complain as his round literally took off the head and middle chest region of the bone faced alien. The explosion cleared and the being dropped dead with a wedge shaped chunk of his body gone and bleeding all over the place. Travis had no time to react as he quickly cycled the bolt and aimed at his next foe, another one of those guys with the bones in the face and fired right at the weapon in hand. The round roared out of his weapon and smashed hard into the gun and it exploded, the weapon was reduced to rubble and the same could be said for the bone faced being's hands as it now had bleeding stumps for hands.

Travis wasted no time on commenting on the fact that the two he just sent to the afterlife were bleeding blue blood as he decided to switch to a different weapon, namely his Laser Rifle. The Anti-Material Rifle disappeared from his hands as he moved to his back, and was soon replaced by his fully upgraded Laser Rifle, he looked through the scope and spotted another alien, this time with the ugliest mug he had ever laid eyes on and had FOUR eyes on the face too, not to mention in need of a serious trip to the dentist. he wasted no time and aimed right at the middle of all four eyes and fired the beam.

He had loaded MAX Charge Microfusion Cells in all of his Rifle sized Energy Weapons so it made no surprise to him as the beam drilled through the creature's head and now there was a smoking hole in between all four eyes. The creature apparently had not expected that and dropped down to the ground and had a now smoking hole where the shot had torn through him. Travis however wasted no time and tracked another target, spotting another one of the four eyed aliens, but this guy was armed with one mean looking grenade launcher, or it vaguely looked like one. Wasting no time on looking, he quickly fired another beam, this time aiming for the hands and the beam form his Laser Rifle tore through the creatures hands, cauterizing the stumps and making him drop the device. The alien roared in pain and began swearing at him in a language that defied his understanding, but he was not in the mood to listen as he aimed at the mouth of the screaming alien and pulled the trigger.

"Shut up!"

The beam hit the creature and in that instant the MAX Charge MF Cell allowed the beam to incinerate the creature, turning it into a pile of dust. that apparently had caught the other aliens off guard as two of them stumped at what happened. That allowed Travis to fire several more beams at the two aliens, one cutting through the thing's armor and leaving a massive smoking hole in the side where the stomach should be. And the other getting a direct hit to the chest region right where the heart was, at least he hoped it was where the heart was. He fired a few more bursts and killed three more of the aliens with the four eyes when he spotted a disk like item thrown at his direction, he did not know what the heck it was, but the beeping coming from it told him it was hardly good. That also told him to roll out of the way, not an easy feat in Power Armor and his throughts were right as the thing exploded.

He decided to fight back as he quickly placed aside his Laser Rifle and took out his special Grenade Rifle, 'Boom Boom' and loaded an incendiary grenade and chugged it right at the attacker who he could guess had tossed that disk grenade. The weapon exploded and the alien along with two of his running buddies got incinerated as Travis shouted out.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE YOU BASTARDS!"

Travis wasted no time and quickly switched to using one of his patented Flash Bangs, tossed it high and it blew up in the face of the aliens. he saw them cry out and scramble in pain, more so for the four eyed aliens. That was his cue as he then took out his GRA Assault Carbine and loaded it with Armor Piercing rounds, he had no idea if these could cut through those glowing barriers they had but no sense not trying. He got out of cover and quickly charged in, firing all the way with controlled and as accurate as he could manage bursts while on the move, silently thanking for the mods he had in this gun. The rounds hit the nearest alien and apparently the bullets had to work a bit harder, but with him this close now due to the T-51 speeding him up, he did not have to worry as the rounds hit and began to rip through the ceramic like plating. One dropped dead and Travis emptied the next alien with all the rounds in his clip.

He quickly turned and smashed the butt of his Assault Carbine in the face of another alien with the bones in the face and he heard the bones crack, a strangely satisfying sound as he reloaded a fresh clip rapidly and then placed the barrel in front of the thing's face, and fired several rounds, expecting the bones to be like armor of a sort. But that was not true as the rounds tore through the bone faced alien's face like the bones were just for show as the head was torn up and the alien was now headless. Travis turned and emptied the rest of the clips into the other aliens but he knew that the shields would be a bit of a problem and they were recovering, but he was FAR from finished. He placed aside his Carbine and switched to his next weapon of choice, two at a time, and these were Lever Action Shotguns and all loaded with his choice of 20 gauge 3/0 buck magnum and smashed both barrels into the faces of two of the four eyed aliens and decapitated them, he quickly moved his hands, unloading the shells and reloading them at the same time while moving the shotguns in a rolling fashion.

(Think the way the Terminator (Arnold) used that Lever Action Shotgun on the bike when facing the T100 only with TWO of them.)

He fired another pair of buck magnum into the aliens, only this time on a bone faced alien and the four eyed ones in the mouth, he did it again and fired two more shots into the arms of two more aliens, preventing them from firing as he reloaded again and fired the next shells on the other aliens. He then stopped as they took cover and he placed those guns aside as he took out the Q-35 Matter Modulator and loaded it with a Max Charge MFC and quickly moved to fire several plasma shots at the aliens and the shots turned them into smoking corpses with several burning holes in them. Apparently their shields were useless against energy weapons or heavy ordnance and that was a good thing in the mind of the Courier as he turned to shout out a challenge to the others.

"IF YOU ALIEN BASTARDS WANT SOME OF THIS, COME AND GET IT!"

The surviving bunch apparently got the hint and tried to attack, apparently hoping that they were have better luck than the others...tried being the figurative word as Travis took out the Sprtel-Wood 9700 and unleashed a hail of the green lasers and he cut down so many of the aliens down before they could fight back. He then directed his attention to the alien ship and fired some just to see what would happen, but while he did hit the ship and damaged it, the ship apparently decided to get out, the crew no doubt thinking that trying to continue with their plans was a BAD idea. As the ship took off, Travis felt himself relax a bit and walked back to the people there and saw that Dana and her team looked at him, utterly flabbergasted by the sight before them. He then took off the helmet and spoke once more to the lady with a grin on his face.

"The area's all clear Miss Maxwell, they won't be coming back."

Dana whistled and replied though with some worry on her face.

"I can see that...who the heck are you?"

"Heh, okay, like I said, the name's Travis Marlowe, born in California, near the Mojave region, and I used to be a Courier but dragged into one heck of a job and got another name doing what you have just seen me do."

"That name being?"

"Warbringer."

…

On the Normandy 2…

She was known by many names, the Hero of Elysium, the daughter of Hannah Shepard and one of the best graduates of N7…and until two years ago, the first Human Spectre, and the one who helped save the Council from the actions of the rogue Turian Spectre Saren. But now she had two new names to add to the list, the hero brought back to life, and now an agent of Cerberus. The last one was not something she liked a great deal and she had good reason as well, she had dealt with Cerberus in the past, but her time with them was less than friendly, in fact she had destroyed a number of bases, disrupted their work, and killed personnel from their side. It still surprised her that they even bothered to get her ruined body from where the previous Normandy was lost and then went through the amounts of money and time to bring her back.

As she got out of the elevator, she could not help but recall looking at the picture of the one man she loved…and lost.

(Kaiden…I wish you are well, and I hope you can forgive me…)

It had been a painful think for the Spectre to leave her loved one behind after all they had been through. She had assigned him to oversee the nuclear bomb that they would need to destroy Saren's base, while she would send Ash to handle the attacks on the rest of Saren's forces alongside Kirrahe's team . It had gone on so well that Kirrahe lost no one in his team as they advanced…that was until Ashley and Kirrahe were caught in a trap and needed her help. She rushed to her friend's aid but only to find that Kaiden and his team of Marines were caught off guard by a strike force of Geth.

She had been forced to choose…save Kaiden and let Ashley and the STG team die, or save Ashley and the STG team and let Kaiden die. She was in a desperate situation until Kaiden told her that the bomb was now locked down and there would be no way to stop it, she hard the Marines fighting and dying, with Kaiden using his Biotics and pistol. It tore at her but Kaiden told her to do it and save the others…he knew her well enough to know that she would do it.

And he was right…

She still recalled looking through the screen to see the detonation of the bomb and knew that he was gone. Ashley was angry as well and was saddened by Kaiden's death, so much so that she and Ash had nearly come to blows on this until they recalled that Kaiden would have wanted to them to not let his death mean nothing by grieving over him. That allowed them to move on and do what they could…eventually stopping Saren, Sovereign, their Geth allies and more.

Ash and her had continued to work together, all the way to the moment that the original Normandy got destroyed. Ever since then, she had no word on her friend and she hoped that with her new position after what she had done on the Citadel and for the salvation of the Galaxy, Ash would have finally redeemed the Williams' family name. She hoped that at least with Ashley finally bringing honor to the Williams name and maybe end the problems that she had to deal with growing up and working in the Alliance. She had only heard from Anderson when she came to the Citadel that Ashley had gone up several ranks and was currently on a special assignment that was off the books. And naturally, Anderson could not tell her anything, namely due to the fact that she was with Cerberus and as such was suspected for working with sworn enemies of both the Citadel Council and the Alliance.

Though at least Anderson was kind enough to explain why and at least, even if with was just symbolic, he and the Councilors gave her back her Spectre rank and position. Now here she was...trying to recruit a number of allies on what many would call a suicide mission and also a fool's errand. If her mother found out she was still alive and keeping away from her...then it was going to be a LOT to explain to her. Cassandra Shepard knew how her mother would be when she got angry about something and it was a miracle that she had not suffered a migraine from it all, but despite that, she loved her mother and wished to see her and her father Daniel Shepard again.

Her train of thought however was soon broken by EDI informing her that the Illusive Man wanted a word with her, that annoyed her as she had been hoping to head off to try some of the new food that Rupert had finally gotten ready with the supplies and new provisions that she got for him. She agreed wholeheartedly with the Mess Sergeant that having good food was a morale booster for the crew namely with what they were going to be doing, and her father always told her to never look down on the power of a good well made meal.

Where she was going, that was going to be something that could be a major boon.

…

In the communications/briefing room…

Shepard sighed mentally to herself she was scanned and now faced The Illusive Man and it galled her at times to be with him. But she was a professional woman and did know when to place thoughts and perceptions aside…hell that was how she managed to recruit her previous team in the first place.

"Ah…Shepard, good to see that despite recent events, you've had the time for a chat."

"I doubt that this chat is a social call Illusive Man, what is it that you want?"

"Direct as always, good to know that. Recently we got wind of a raid done on another colony, this one is named New Alaska."

"In the Terminus Systems again?"

"Yes, the only difference is that this raid was not done by the Collectors, nor is it in the Terminus Systems, at least deeply anyway. New Alaska is at the fringes of the Terminus Systems and is in what would officially be considered Citadel Space…just not enough for it to be routinely patrolled by security fleets. This raid was done by Batarian slavers who also had support from some Turian forces who have an axe to grind against humans. This raid in question was not well led, but substantial, yet it was repelled recently."

"By the Citadel fleet or the Alliance Garrison I take it?"

"No on the first part, and no on the second Shepard, New Alaska is not under the jurisdiction of the Alliance and as such only has a small volunteer colonial militia with basic weapons, not enough to count as a professional garrison force, nor was there a Citadel fleet in the area to respond. This was repelled by one man."

"Really? That guy must have been either very lucky or well armed."

"I usually don't credit luck too much, but you may have a point…we got video footage of the man in question when he fought the raiders and slavers Shepard…what you might see will surprise you."

Shepard was about to reply that after seeing all she had seen, she was not the kind to be surprised that easily, but she was going to have to rethink that as she watched Travis unleash hell on the Raiders and Slavers, it was rather impressive to a degree to the N7 Marine to see the man take on a force which while not too large was well armed and led. But what really got her attention was the way he was able to fight and what weapons he used…namely the weapons in question and how he got them into the field.

Once the battle footage was paused, she spoke to the Illusive Man.

"Was all that real?"

"As real as it can get Shepard, as you have seen, he uses quite an array of weapons, and while most of them appear to be antique weapons, they are still fairly effective and functional, some of the weapons appear familiar to some of my people who specialize in history, but the others are a bit different. But as you saw, there were weapons that were anything but antique and regular."

"I know…he was carrying actual laser weapons and even some plasma weapons to boot, I've never heard of that before being done by anyone with the exception of the Geth and possibly the Collectors if rumors about them are true, and the same can be said for the Armor, never seen anything like that before, and after what I have done and seen in the past, that's saying something."

"In that regard we can agree, his ability to suddenly acquire weapons out from thin air as well as ammunition is very interesting, what we have pieced together is that the device on his right arm might have something to do with it. Whatever it is, it somehow allows him to carry a veritable armory of weapons into the field along with Armor and supplies. That is something that no one has ever seen before. But that is not the only thing that surprises us Shepard, there are three things there too."

"The first being?"

"His sudden appearance for one, most would have thought he was from a colony elsewhere, but we checked New Alaska's records and it has no other colonies near it and there had only been a supply and trading ship that came to the colony prior to the attack. This means that he somehow came to the colony unannounced and that alone is surprising."

"The second?"

"His name, he was…kind enough to give his name to the colony's local constables when they asked him for it. His name is Travis Marlowe and he was born somewhere in California back on Earth. I immediately ran his name through the residential database on Earth, namely in the cities that are still there…we came up empty, no family, friends, nothing. Marlowe is a common family name and Travis is common enough, but there's no one resembling this man."

"And what is the last?"

"That is the surprising part of this man…take a look."

Shepard watched curiously at the video once it played again with Travis talking to the colonists. She wondered what was the last part concerning this mystery man that surprised the Illusive Man…and as soon as Travis revealed his face…she got her answer and she was wide eyed at it and as soon as the images stopped and stayed still, she looked intently at the image.

(No…it can't be…this has got to be a trick.)

She then looked at her…benefactor and spoke seriously.

"Is this some sort of joke?"

"No Shepard, if it is a joke then it's a very poor one, we have confirmed from the videos that this is Travis Marlowe. I was surprised about this as you were as well when our agent in the Alliance showed us these records, I am forwarding this to you right now and you should be getting this minutes from now. There's a reason I called you about this as well, we want you to find this man…and recruit him."

Shepard looked at the image and scowled a bit.

"Recruit him? Care to tell me why?"

"He obviously has very unique technology and shows quite a level of skill in combat Shepard, he might very well be a helpful ally…despite his appearance. The dossiers I handed you are for your new team to fight the Collectors who we made sure to get all the data that we could get. But as you can guess, we have nothing on this man Travis…but we do have a codename for him, he apparently gave that same codename to the people of the colony he rescued and considering what we have seen thus far, the name suits him."

"That name being?"

"Warbringer, a strange title to be sure, but considering what we have seen thus far, fairly accurate considering he knows how to fight and carries an arsenal that by all rights should be impossible for one man to carry. As far as we have pieced together, he is still there on New Alaska, he has not taken any ship off the planet so it would be best to go there and get him."

Shepard took a deep breath and sighed at this, looked at Travis's face and then to the Illusive Man.

"All right, if this…Warbringer is who he is, then I have no doubt that he can be helpful in fighting the Collectors."

"And Shepard…despite his…looks, do not be distracted, he is still an unknown to do not let that get in the way of your judgments."

Shepard glared at that and merely replied.

"I'll handle it."

As soon as everything was over and the Illusive Man cut contact from her, she spoke to he resident AI on the ship.

"EDI, patch me to Joker right now."

"Understood Commander…I have Mr. Moreau on the line."

"Let me do the taling here, jeez, anyway, what do you need Commander?"

"Change of plans, we're going to the colony of New Alaska."

"Not that I want to sound overtly curious, but why are going there?"

"To pick up someone, get us there Joker, I'll fill you when I get up to you."

Shepard did not wait for Joker to finish as she quickly got out of the room and headed to the CIC, what she had seen had gotten the cog wheels in her brain spinning and she wanted to make sure that she was ready. That man she just saw was impressive in the way he managed to fight the Turian and Batarian slavers, and the way he can unleash a storm of weapons fire from weapons that seemingly came from thin air due to that device in his arm. But there was something else that was tugging at her mind, try as she might, she was still reeling from seeing Travis's face…and for a good reason.

He looked just like Kaiden…

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Yet a new addition for all toe read but rest assured, the other stories are already getting new chapters and will be posted when I am able to have the time. ANd one such story is Justice League Fire Shadow, so it will be updated soon.

There we are with the prologue of Mass Effect: Warbringer, not the flashiest of titles to be sure, but works for me. I hope that this prologue will be enough to get things going and while this might seem like some sort of copy, this is my own creation. And yes, this means I have played Fallout New Vegas and all the DLCs so don't think I cooked this all up on the fly. Travis is based on one of my own characters who I have used to finish the whole game along with the DLCs so he will be a high end fighter and as such can be a major asset to the team Shepard will soon be assembling for the battle with the Collectors. And no, I do not have plans to bring Travis back to the Wasteland so don't think it's the same as my other stories where the heroes want to go back and have the means to do so.

And yes, Travis does look like Kaiden who as you have read in this fic was Shepard's love interest but had died on Vrmire and as such she's still hurting on the day he died. And now we have Travis who looks just like the man she loved so you can bet that the whole situation is going to be rather...awkward is the best way to sum it up. How will it affect the team what worked with Shepard before since they all know that Kaiden is dead? That is going to be under wraps for now so I will not say anything.

Travis also happens to be of high positive Karma and in this story, Shepard is a full fledged Paragon with a slight mix of Renegade so they might work well together and it should prove interesting. In light of Travis's weapons and ammunition, he can handle that well enough as he will find ways to repair and maintain his gear. As for ammunition concerns, Travis has brought a LOT of ammunition in bulk as you will all see later so he will be all right for now, and when he finds a chance to have more supplies, things are going to get a LOT more interesting when he plays chemist and gunsmith.

I'll send you his overall data in the next chapter so don't bother me about his perks and abilities yet, okay?

And if you want to know if he will wind up getting female attention...well, the fact that he has the Lady Killer Perk might help there.

See you all soon!


	2. Chapter 2

Mass Effect: Warbringer

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mass Effect or Fallout….damn it.

Chapter 1

Introductions…

( ): Thoughts

…

New Alaska Colony…

Travis was busy getting up but he was very much against the idea of getting up from bed, the beds here were so damn comfortable…and clean too! Clean and comfortable beds were only found in high end places in the Mojave and while there were clean beds in other places, that hardly meant that they were fully comfortable, though he had no time to complain. As he got up, he shook his head and headed off to the shower and once he was there he was more than willing to take a long shower.

It had been at least several hours since the battle and the security detail decided to take the weapons of the slavers and add those to their arsenals, no sense leaving those weapons being idle, and if they did not have enough room, they would sell them. He had been given a good welcome and a number of the colonists were more than willing to treat him to some drinks. That new stuff known as Nova ale was certainly a lot mote potent than most drinks that he had tried.

(Cass would have loved to try that.)

As he thought about his partner in liberating the Mojave and fighting against the Legion, he wondered just how was she doing. Cass and him met back at the Outpost and after convincing her to sell and travel with him, he recalled how they were able to finally solve the mystery behind the caravan attacks and bring the Van Graffs and the Crimson Caravan heads to justice. But as he thought about it a bit more, he knew that he was not going to get a chance since if he was indeed where he was, then going back to the Mojave was going to be pretty much impossible. He had no idea just how the teleporter had managed to send him into a brand new world that had humans AND aliens living on it, but hit was enough to tell him that going back was going to be nigh impossible.

As he finished his bath, he got out and grabbed a nearby towel to dry himself up, and decided to take into appreciation the fact that the people were nice enough to let him stay in a place. The home had come basic amenities and some other things that he appreciated but compared to some of the places he was forced to bunk out in, this was great. Not like the presidential suite he got back in the Tops after Swank took over after he swatted Benny, but close enough.

Once he was dry, he switched to using his Courier Duster Armor which bore the symbol of the NCR and decided to go grab a bite with the people of New Alaska. The nearby restaurant had been the source of jubilation and celebration once the slavers were gone and had been the place where he had been given his drinks for the day. Now only hours afterwards, he was going back to grab something good to eat.

He had no idea what to do afterwards though, he had been given a good deal of history about where he was from Dana who was…kind enough to give him a full download of data into his Pip boy, though throughout it all, she was being a lot more friendly than she had been before. Not that he was going to complain of course, and she actually offered him a place in the Security detail in the Colony.

The idea was tempting but he decided to see what else he could learn before making a decision. He then accessed his Pip boy and began reading the data. He was thankfully that despite some initial difficulties and problems, his Pip Boy underwent some upgrades which was why instead o considering the data corrupted or unknown, it was accepted. The information about Earth, this Systems Alliance, the Citadel races, the Council, the Terminus Systems, everything was completely unlike anything he had ever read about or seen in his life, further convincing him that he had somehow arrived in some new dimension.

Sure the stuff sounded way beyond bogus since the only time he had seen stuff like that was in those old comic books he managed to read and salvage as a kid. But here he was, in a planet SO unlike Earth, surrounded by people and aliens who looked like women, fought off a band of slavers who were aliens themselves. If he had not done and seen that, he would have thought that the radiation had REALLY screwed him over and messed up his mind.

As he got out of his place, he headed for the restaurant and smiled in greeting to the people there, the people smiled and waved their hands to him in greeting. The former Courier reached the restaurant and as soon as he came into the building, he was greeted by some of the people there with cheers and raised glasses. He smiled back at them and made his way to the bar and as he sat down, the bartender spoke to him once again with a grin.

"Nice to see ya back Travis, what do you want?"

"Just a glass of that Nova ale, and something good to eat Reese, I haven't eaten anything else on the menu you guys have except that food I had hours ago. I'll try the Continental Lunch, whatever that is"

"All right, give me a second here, and I'll have your orders to you in a bit."

Travis nodded and waited for a while though he was not going to be alone as one of the Asari, walked up to him and spoke gently.

"This seat taken?"

"Nope, not at all."

The Asari sat next to Travis and he had to admit that up close, these Asari were certainly good looking. The skin color and look might be a bit off, and the lack of ears, as well as hair was different, but the beauty was there. He had read all he could from the data about Asari and the idea of them actually being able to mate with both male and female of any species made his eyebrows rise. Had even one of them landed in the Wasteland or even a handful, then alien appearances be damned, no one would leave them well enough alone.

The Asari looked to be younger though he was not sure since it was stated that they were able to live to a thousand years. He kept those thoughts to himself and decided to hear out just what she wanted to say just as his food finally arrived. The smell was very delicious and he could not help but be happy for the chance to try some new food. The supplies he had from his travels were still with him but that could wait for now as this new food would be great.

As he dug in she spoke to him.

"My name's Tasha, I have to say thank you for what you did for the Colony and also thanks for helping us as well. You might not know it but my friends and I were merely doing a supply run here when the attack happened, so we have to thank you for saving us as well."

Travis grinned as he ate some of the meat and swallowed before replying.

"Not a problem miss, anyway you don't have to say anything about it since I would have done it anyway."

Tasha smiled as she looked at the human as he ate, there was aura about him that made him…rather attractive to her and while she was no mere Maiden and had been trained as Huntress, this human stirred something in her and she liked that feeling.. She recalled that her Captain had asked if she could try and convince the human to join them since they were going on a supply run to the Citadel and having someone like him was going to be a good thing.

Though it would stand to reason that body guard duty was not the only thing that they wanted from him but to also see the technology he carried. She admitted that she had never seen anything like it before and some news about it would be nice.

"That's nice to know, anyway, my Captain asked me to find out if you have anywhere else to go or do here on the colony. We could certainly use a skilled and armed ally on our side. And we'll pay you for food and lodging too."

Travis looked at the Asari and could tell that she was not lying, while he was not sure why he knew that, he had always developed a feeling when someone was being truthful to him. And even though she did not look human in full sense, she was not giving off the negative vibes that warned him of danger or deception. And the idea of hanging out with an all female crew of alien babes WAS pretty tempting.

He however decided not to jump the gun as it were and replied.

"I'll think it over okay Tasha? I've been given an offer by the Security head of the colony to be in their unit so I need some time to think over that too."

Tasha gave a slight sigh of disappointment but perked up since the ship they were with, the Azure Breeze was not going to leave until tomorrow so there was still time.

"All right then, hope to hear from you again soon. I need to go and see to the ship and get it ready for tomorrow's departure if you change your mind you know where to find us."

…

However, that was going to be placed aside as a certain ship was now in orbit over the planet…

…

As she got ready to travel to New Alaska after Joker reported to the colony's administration center that they were coming. Angela Shepard could not help but think a bit more before placing on her N7 Helmet with the Breather mask unit off for now. She was going down into one of the shuttles and she was going to do this alone, it was better this way. She had talked it over with the only two members of her crew who had been there the day Kaidan had died on Vrmire, that naturally meant Joker and Chakwas. Needless to say that when both of them saw Travis, they were for the lack of a better term, gob smacked. They had known that Kaidan died on the planet and it had been one of the hardest losses for them all, especially after losing Jenkins.

But now to see someone who looked like their dead comrade who they were now being told to pick up, it was something none of them had expected. Chakwas asked them if the image was faked somehow, that this man was only given Kaidan's face to get Shepard's attention. Joker himself asked if this was some crude joke made by some of the people in Cerberus that Shepard had pissed off when they went after the group when they got roped into that mission by Admiral Kahoku.

EDI replied that there was no sign of tampering with the records and while it offered no concrete idea on why the man wore Kaidan Alenko's face, it replied that with a 150 percent certainty, that what they were looking at was Travis's real face, and after doing some scanning, the A.I, shackled A.I to be sire confirmed that not only did Travis look like Kaidan, but had all the same facial features of the deceased hero.

How could this man have the same face as Kaidan escaped Shepard and the others now, but she knew that with the mission against the Collectors coming, she did not have the time to ask questions that might not even yield answers. The only thing she could do was hope that the answers would be eventually found, and hopefully they could make some damned sense. Still, she could not help but wonder just what would happen if Ashley had been with them and saw this/. There was no doubt her friend would have gone ballistic and demanded answers. That was harsh to be sure, but she and everyone in the old crew knew that Ash was a bit temperamental at times.

This was why she went alone and as she sat down, she prayed that the memories of her time with Kaidan did not suddenly hit her the very second she met this man. The shuttle was soon on it's way and she looked out to see the world below her and as the shuttle passed the atmosphere, she hoped that this was going to be a simple meeting and recruitment drive.

…

It was not long before the shuttle finally landed on the landing pad of the colony and soon she was out of the shuttle, she looked over the colony and it was there that some of the security detail came to her side. The resurrected N7 Commando was able to see that while they were not well armed as a full military unit, they were better armed and no doubt these were weapons that were taken from the slain pirates and slavers. She then faced the leader of the Security detail of the colony and spoke to her.

"Greetings, my name is Commander Angela Shepard."

The three stopped and the leader spoke next and she was very serious about it.

"You're Commander Shepard? As in THE Commander Shepard, the hero of the Citadel who saved the Council, the first Human Spectre in galactic history, the one who defeated the rogue Turian Spectre Saren? I though you were killed in some sort of battle somewhere."

"I got better."

Dana nodded a bit and replied.

"I can see that easily enough, let me guess, the whole thing was a cover?"

"You could say that."

"All right, let me see if you are who you say you are, let me take your blood sample Commander."

Angela nodded and it did not bother her as she knew that if she had been in the Security leader's place, she would have done the very same thing. It was standard procedure after all and she was quite used to it. Once it was done, the woman looked at the screen and she whistled a bit while looking at Angela.

"So you ARE Commander Shepard, we didn't expect someone like you out here, you might be Alliance, but everyone's heard about you on every human colony, Alliance sponsored or not. We might be trying to stay away from the Alliance, but we would be heartless bastards to not acknowledge the things you did for Humanity."

Angela could tell that the woman was serious and she smiled a bit, at least some people were on her side.

"Thanks, you're the leader of the Security detail here on New Alaska?"

"Yeah, name's Dana Maxwell, now I know this is sudden, but what exactly brought you here?"

"We heard about the attack here and how it was thwarted by someone named Travis Marlowe though we learned that he prefers calling himself Warbringer. I was asked to come here and recruit him for a special mission."

Dana raised an eyebrow at that and asked once more.

"So you're here to recruit him for a special mission for the Council and the Alliance?"

"Something like that, is he still here?"

Dana was not too happy with the idea of Travis leaving since she felt that having him around would be a good thing. His skills and technology would make anyone think twice to come here and raid New Alaska, among other things. But he had not yet agreed to her offer and she had learned that Asari had offered him a place in their ship's crew as a member of their security detail, but he had not agreed to it as well. And now here was Commander Shepard herself asking for Travis to go with her on a mission which could be a very dangerous situation.

She decided to go ahead and call the Administrator and ask for Travis to come to the landing pad, and it was not long for the man in question to show up.

"Hey there, you called for me Dana?"

The minute the voice came out, Angela froze solid, and there was a very good reason for suddenly freezing up. Not only did Travis have Kaidan's face…but also his voice. It was a bit higher in tone and pitch, but there was no denying it, the man had Kaidan's voice and that made her all the more shocked.

And soon she saw the man walking towards them in an outfit that looked out of place. yet very rugged and seemed to suit the man. On his back was a strange looking rifle. She looked to see the face and sure enough, Travis had Kaidan's voice, there were a pair of scars there on the head that had faded considerably but his face was that of her first love. The pain that came in her heart was such that she felt like shouting out in shock.

(Damn it Angie! Get a grip! That man is NOT Kaidan…he's gone, you KNOW he is gone! You saw the bomb go off on Vrmire yourself. He is not Kaidan!)

But another part of her mind argued with her other side as well.

(But how then does he not only look like him, but sound like him?)

The mess of her thoughts were finally controlled by Angela and looked at Travis as she removed her helmet and loosened her blonde hair a bit.

…

Travis had no idea what was going on, he had been out in the field to look over the place when he was called on the PA system to go to the landing pad. Once he got there, he spotted a woman talking to Dana and she was wearing a suit of very impressive armor. The armor told him that the woman was a military woman and carried herself like one. But despite the fact she looked very serious he swore that when she looked at him, there was a flash of recognition from her. And that was something that he had never expected as he came closer to the landing pad.

The woman was a deep blonde woman with green eyes as far as he could see and her armor was very strong and yet form fitting. He then directed his attention to the face, very well formed, good cheek bones, good skin tone though there were some scars there. Not enough to make her look ugly, but served to prove that she was dangerous yet she seemed calm and relaxed. Travis however still focused on why was it that she acted like she knew him, which was impossible in his mind since he had never met this woman before in his life.

He placed that aside and spoke to Dana first.

"You wanted to see me Dana?"

Dana smiled at Travis and nodded.

"Yeah, this is Commander Angela Shepard of the Systems Alliance, and the first Human Spectre as well."

Travis read up on the Spectres, they were similar to the Special Forces teams he encountered, namely the 1st Recon, the NCR Rangers, the Heavy Shock Troopers of the NCR and also of the special units in Caesar's Legion. They were supposed to be the special arm of the Citadel Council and were usually seen as either being peace keepers who used diplomacy before force, or ruthless killers who used lethal force to preserve order. They only reported to the Council and were chosen from the Citadel races and humanity was one of them. The first Human Spectre was Commander Angela Shepard and now here she was…only problem was, she was supposed to be dead.

That made him recall the time Benny tried to kill him with two headshots, whoever this woman was, she had a heck of a track record on her. And why was she here as well? Certainly deploying such a high ranking person to a place like this was very odd so that meant she was looking for something…or someone.

"I see, read your file Miss Shepard, aren't you supposed to be?"

Angela replied to that as calmly as she could.

"Dead? I got better."

Travis grinned a bit at that and offered his hand to her.

"Then I guess I should meet the doctor who saved your life. Doc Mitchell worked his ass off to save my ass when I woke up too."

That made Shepard curious as she had never heard of this Mitchell before, she shelved it aside and spoke to him.

"That I think can wait, I came here to look for you Mr. Marlowe, I have a mission that needs to be accomplished. Though I think that's best that what I will say remains private."

That was Dana's cue to leave, she didn't want to but she knew that as a Spectre, Shepard was a rank above her or anyone else for that matter. Plus if this was Shepard, it would be a mission of important beyond measure, way beyond her pay grade so she nodded a bit and left along with her guards.

Once they were away Shepard lay down the mission, the kidnappings of colonies filled with thousands of humans, the Collectors, who they were, and where they were from, and why was it no one seemed to notice. Travis listened intently, already not liking what he was hearing, the actions of these Collectors sounded a bit like the actions done by the Legion, take over a tribe, destroy the identity and history of said tribe and incorporate the people into their ranks. The boys became Legionaries, the women became breeding stock or wives to officers if they were lucky, the rest were pressed into service in the Legion, used as slaves…or worse.

But these Collectors were aliens and certainly nothing like the Legion, especially since they somehow managed to take so many people without firing a shot. The former Courier could not help but see the threat this posed and he could not help but wonder just what the Collectors planned to do with those humans. He did not want to even guess though his mind wondered on the possibility that they would be experimenting on the people like in those comics he found as a kid. And the Reapers who were possibly the ones ordering the kidnappings sounded way wrose, even more so when he was told that they harvested all life and it was Shepard and her crew who killed one of them years ago.

As soon as it was over he spoke to Shepard.

'And you want me to help you and your crew to stop them and their Reaper Masters I take it?"

Angela nodded.

"Yes, but like I said, where we are going, it's likely a suicide mission, so it's up to you if you want to do this. I don't want to force anyone to serve with me."

Travis shook his head and Shepard thought he was going to say no but he replied.

"You don't need to ask me anything, I can tell that you are not spoon feeding me bullshit Shepard and I like a woman with that kind of no bullshit attitude. I'll help you fight these Reapers and the Collectors, but I can't exactly do it alone, I might be a badass fighter even if not in the military, but I ain't a god."

"I am gathering a team for that, if we get them and stop the Collectors, then we throw a bolt into the plans their Reaper masters have . We're not doing this alone Mr. Marlowe, or would you prefer your code name of Warbringer?"

"Let's not get into that for now Shepard, just for today, just call me Travis, or Travis Marlowe, I have all I need with me so no need for me to pack. I'm in this mission of yours right to the end, hell, I have dodged death so many times now to be honest so no sense not using what I have and what I can do against these Collectors and their Reaper bosses. If they think picking on Humanity is easy…then I am willing to help you prove them wrong."

Shepard smiled a bit and soon both of them headed off to the colony where Dana told the people of Travis' plan to join Shepard on this mission though she naturally did not know about it. The colonists were not too happy about it but did not argue and they were not the only ones as Tasha's crew were not too pleased and neither were Tasha and her Captain. The same could be said for Dana and her team but they knew that it could not be helped so they did their best to wish Travis off.

Since Travis assured them he would be fine, they did not stop him or ask if he needed anything, since after seeing him fight, they had confidence he could help. But before he left, he decided to be a bit of a flirt as he then kissed both Dan and Tasha on the cheeks and thanked them for their offers, and when he got back if he got back, he might consider what they had tried to offer them.

Shepard saw that and she could not help but feel some stab of annoyance and more, but she placed it aside as she and Travis boarded the shuttle. Once it took off she noted that Travis seemed…giddy at the fact that he was in space. Had she not been confused by the situation she would have found the look cute.

…

In the Normandy-2…

Travis whistled at the sight of the hallways while he was wearing only his Courier Duster armor for now while carrying one of his favorite weapons, the GRA Bozar on his back. He was being accompanied by the woman he now knew to be Commander Shepard who he had to admit was one heck of a lady in armor, but he kept in mind that there was something that was bothering her which was why he was not commenting too much.

As they walked into the halls after leaving the shuttle from the massive cargo bay and riding up the elevator, he could not help but finally speak to the woman as they were at the area called the crew quarters level. As the PA said that they were now off to their original destination of Omega, whatever that place was.

"This is very interesting ship you have here Shepard, you guys get paid well for this kind of work?"

Shepard shook her head and replied.

"Not really, this version of the Normandy was privately built by my…current benefactors."

Travis was quick to pick up some bitterness and dislike there and that was already sending warning bells ringing in his head. Usually in his line of experience, when one shows dislike for one's employers, that usually meant that they were being blackmailed into service. He wondered just what he had signed on to but he also knew that now was not the time for asking questions since he did not know all the details yet.

It was here that another person arrived, a drop dead gorgeous woman with black hair, blue eyes, good skin tone, and a body to die for. The outfit which was black and white in a very sleek body suit certainly added to the package. This was a woman who could easily hold a man's attention with a slight smile, a wink, a move of the body, hip and all those clichés he had heard and read about. The only trade off was that if she had ever been in the Wasteland, she would have perverts, rapists and slavers by the handful after her, who knew what the Legion would have done to her if they had seen her like this, and those psychotic Fiends would be worse, and even the corrupt elements in the NCR or elsewhere would have taken notice.

But after working alongside women like Cass, Christine, Veronica, and a few other mentionable women in his life, one thing was clear to Travis, just because she looked like this does not mean she was harmless. The beautiful women usually happened to be the most dangerous and this woman was sending vibes that warned him that she was not some to underestimate. Added to the fact that she was moving with professionalism and had two of those folding weapons on her sides of different sizes meant to him that she was deadly in her own right. Add that to the fact that she was looking at him in a very analytical way served to tell him that she was the business first kind of lady. The one who did not break easily, and commanded respect at all times, the Ice Queen type as it were.

However, he would have to be a fool to not admit to the fact that the whole deadly femme fatale or Black Widow look this woman was letting out was not the least bit appealing. They always said nothing was more sexy than a woman who looked hot as hell and could hit you with the force of a Anti-Material Rifle round right in the crotch. And besides, melting the ice of the ice queen and seeing who she was usually showed a lot more than one let on.

Angela then spoke to Travis as he faced her.

"Travis, this is my XO and my benefactor's liaison, Miranda Lawson."

(Second in command AND no doubt a spy for said benefactor that Shepard dislikes…talk about a conflict of interest. Still, there's no sense not being nice to her, better to avoid getting into trouble on my first day out with this crew as far as I can see.)

Travis then decided to smile and give Miranda a bow as he had seen done by the people down at the Ultra-Lux.

"Greetings to you Miss Lawson, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at that and gave slightly guarded smile.

"A gentleman who bows to a lady in this day and age, now that's rare."

Miranda proved herself to be the serious one quickly as she spoke.

"Well Mr. Marlowe, I would like to place some rules on you right now so we can avoid any conflicts. This is the Normandy SR-2 and while a bit different this ship is still a military vessel so there are certain rules and regulations. As XO to Commander Shepard, I will be handling any duties that need to be ironed out quickly so they don't compromise the mission or the crew of this ship. You have to follow orders like everyone else from Shepard and myself as well as those of higher rank. Are there any other questions?"

Travis mentally groaned a bit and recalled his time with Colonel Moore.

(She reminds me a bit too much of Moore, though at least she's dressed a lot better than Moore and despite her flaws when it came to dealing with B.O.S, Moore could back it up. I get the feeling working with this Miranda is going to be anything but boring.)

"None so far Miss Lawson, I will follow Shepard's orders as well as your orders, but there is one thing I like to make clear."

"If it's about payment, then you can be assured that Cerberus will be paying you a well sized fee for your efforts."

Travis snorted a bit and crossed his arms over his chest and replied.

"I might need credits, food, drink, and supplies Miss Lawson, but I am no simple merc, my father might have been one in the past and damn good at it too, but I am not taking his path, nor did he want me to anyway. The thing I want to make clear is this, I am not some simple man you can order around, I might not be a military man, but I have been fighting against creatures that can be called nightmares and against people who are more monster than men OR women. You give me orders that make sense, and I'll follow them, don't give me orders that make me look like some brainless idiot fresh off the tracks. Do that, and we're good, all right?"

Miranda thought about it and decided to agree with the condition, he did not demand anything else and they were fair. Truth be told, the man was showing the signs of someone who could back up their words with action and that could be a good or bad thing. That all depended on how one treated said person, if the video was any indication, having Travis on their side could improve their chances. He was an unknown but they did not have much choice and anything or anyone that could help would have to be taken in

"Fair enough, though I must ask what your previous occupation was Mr. Marlowe?"

"Before I worked as a civilian contractor, I was a Courier."

That surprised Miranda and Angela as they both spoke at the same time.

"You were a Courier?"

Miranda had to admit that the idea of this man being a former delivery boy sounded preposterous. He was too well built, scarred, and battle hardened to be a Courier and dressed like that told her that he was certainly nothing like the Couriers she had ever met. And she had to admit that he did look and even sound like former Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko who was killed in Vrmire, how that was possible eluded her. Though he was certainly good…

She shook her head at that and mentally chided herself for suddenly thinking unprofessional thoughts. Sure he looked nice to the eyes, but now was not the time for thinking those things, not with the fate of Humanity at stake.

The same could be said for Angela as she could not imagine Travis as a Courier since he was certainly build more along the lines of a shock trooper and had the demeanor of one than a Courier. Although technology had improved, there had been times that carrying information was better than transporting as such, Couriers were still around though in lesser numbers since other preferred secure lines of communication and transaction more nowadays.

Angela could not also help herself as she looked at the man once more trying to figure him out while ignoring his more than creepy resemblance to her former love.

In the end though he spoke to them to break them out of their thoughts since he felt that gawking at him was getting rather old despite the humor he could see at their expressions .

"Yes, I am a Courier though I retired since the life became…too dangerous for me, so what's next?"

Angela then spoke to him as she knew what was next.

"That would be a trip to the Medical Bay, right nearby too, I told Chakwas to expect you, we'll see you later."

With that the two women left for their own work and Travis saw the arrow leading to the Medical Bay and headed there right away. The sooner he was done with this then all the better.

…

In the Medical Bay…

Travis smiled at the medical bay of the Normandy, it certainly won an A in high tech as far as he had seen, the only things that would trump this setup would be the Sink's Auto-doc unit and the ones he had seen over the years. It smelled…clean and well maintained, even cleaner than the medical clinics of some of the places he had been to. Not to mention that the doctor handling the place certainly looked like the motherly type though he was willing to bet his hard earned caps that she was tough and decisive when she had to be.

He decided to be polite to her and let her do her job as he placed down his Bozar with the safety on. He smiled warmly and spoke to her as nicely as he could.

"Good day ma'am, you're Doctor Chakwas I take it?"

Chakwas smiled as she could tell that the young man was being polite to her and in her mind, it was a good sign. She however had to admit that it was taking a bit of effort for her not to react in a shocked and unprofessional manner. He looked so much like Kaiden that had she not been told about him by Shepard and shown the images, she would have panicked and thought that she was seeing things.

(Their resemblance is uncanny…same facial features, same eye shape, and even the jaw structure, and even the voice is the same with some subtle differences. I wonder how Angela is taking this in?)

"That I am, and you must be Travis Marlowe?"

"In the flesh so to speak, anyway, Miss Shepard asked me to come here for a medical checkup and all."

"True, that is standard procedure on a ship like this, unless you happen to be the kind of person who dislikes medical regulations?"

Travis shook his head and replied.

"No way, I like going to the doctor when I can since considering my…line of work, nothing's wrong with going to the doctor since it's better than bleeding out. I learned enough from them on how to tend to my own injuries so I have high respect for doctors."

Chakwas could tell that he was being serious and that made her raise an eyebrow as she spoke.

"So if I tell you to stay in bed after a military mission, you're not going to be a stubborn man and demand to get out of bed?"

"No, actually I never served in the military officially, you could call me a civilian contractor I guess."

"So in simple terms, you're a mercenary?"

Travis frowned a bit and replied.

"No ma'am, my father might have been a merc, but I was not, I was a Courier actually, I only got involved with the military due to…unexpected circumstances."

Chakwas could tell this was a bit of a sore subject and decided not to go any further since Travis was being cooperative and as such, she had to play nice. Besides, the man was certainly a step up in the right direction since there was genuine politeness in the way he acted and spoke

"All right then, sorry about the questions, as the Chief Medical Officer here on the Normandy, I have to be very serious in medical matters, and believe me, I have seen many a soldier try to get up when they were supposed to be resting. Anyway, let's get this done since we will now be heading back to the mission."

Travis nodded and moved to unlatch the Armor he wore, it was not too hard as he was sure that considering her age, Chakwas had seen a lot and while he was not all that sure about being naked before a woman, unless he and said woman were on very good terms with one another, he was not going to complain. As he removed the upper portion of his outfit, he heard her gasp a bit, and he had a very good idea as to why.

"Sorry about the view Doc, I forgot to tell you about those."

"I see, sorry, but these injuries of yours are…different."

And she was not kidding in the slightest, Chakwas had seen a LOT of things being a military doctor, but she had to admit that what she was seeing was pretty gruesome. There were burns, bullet wounds, wounds from bladed weapons, large insect stings, claw marks, and even teeth marks on Travis's body, but the most shocked were a series of massive claw wounds on his back. And when Travis turned, the same could be seen on his chest as began to remove his pants but not before going to remove his boots.

Travis was well built to be sure and despite the tapestry of injuries he had on him, he was certainly an attractive sort to any woman, but Chakwas was still shocked by the amounts of healed injuries the man had, and when he was finally bare of clothes, his lower half was just as scarred as the rest of him. By all rights anyone with this much injury should not even be alive.

(What in blazes happened to this man? I've seen my fair share of injuries and even those who did not make it, but this is something else.)

She recovered just as quickly and spoke.

"Well then, I suggest you wait a moment before I begin the tests as I need a hospital gown."

"Take your time Doc."

As Chakwas left to get the said gown, Travis decided to just move around a bit and check his Pip boy, the only thing he did not remove at all. He was curious about the Medical Bay and what was behind that door but decided not to go exploring, this was not his place so no sense wandering about in the dark, let alone naked the day he was born. But that was when the doors opened and in walked none other than Shepard along with Miranda Lawson, and one redhead who's name was yet to be told to him.

"Chakwas, has Travis already…oh!"

The three women were stopped dead in their tracks as they finally realized that the man in question was before them, and he was buck naked to boot. It was not long before they were staring at the man without saying a word, taking in his looks while also seeing the extensive amounts of injuries Travis had acquired over his long and much storied career, and they each had their own thoughts on him with Shepard going first as she was there to see just how Chakwas was handling their new guest, the last thing she expected was to see him like that.

(My God…what the hell happened to this guy? I haven't seen injuries like his in years! And he's supposed to be just a Courier for God's sake! Though he certainly does not look like the average mail man or delivery boy.)

Miranda had come there to check on Chakwas who was going to handle the physicals and see if there were any other medical tools the doctor needed. The last thing she expected was to run into a man who was not only naked, but packing enough scars to resemble a geographical map of pain. The only thing she knew of that would trump Travis' injuries was the state Shepard had been in when she had been brought to the station during the Lazarus Project.

(That level of injury on one man should not be possible, and those claw marks on him, he should have been utterly torn apart by whatever inflicted them on him! What kind of world does he come from anyway to have that level of damage? He certainly does not look like any messenger I have ever met before and certainly would make a formidable soldier.)

Kelly herself had come along to give some updates on their mission to both Shepard and Miranda and also to take a look at this Travis Marlowe who the Illusive Man had mentioned. She had to begin making a psychological report on him as soon as possible. She had to admit that injuries aside, he was certainly well built and attractive, but he carried himself differently than the others, a warrior to be sure, but certainly of a different caliber.

(Oh my God…those injuries look very extensive, he must have been through a hellish life to have gained that many injuries. Such injuries must have left extensive mental damage to him as well, yet he seems to be…used to it. I think I am going to have a lot to work on if I am going to be evaluating his mental state…still, he's not bad looking.)

Travis looked at them with a raised eyebrow and then decided to speak.

"Uh, normally I would not mind being without any armor and clothing on and being looked at by women who don't run at the sight of me like this, but can you three stop the staring for a moment?"

That coupled with the arrival of Chakwas with the medical gown was enough to finally convince all three women to stop gawking. The man was soon wearing the gown and after a few minutes of discussion where Shepard mentioned to Travis to head to the Armory for their Armory Chief Jacob Taylor after the tests were done, the three women left, and already all three of them were mentally discussing what was it they had seen o themselves.

As for Chakwas, she sighed as she decided to lock down the Medical Bay and soon got to work and what she saw next was enough to make her explain minutes later.

"What the devil happened to you?"

"The Mojave Wasteland happened to me Doc."

"Pardon?"

"Let's just say that my home was not the friendliest place in the world."

One thing was certain in Chakwas' mind, there was going to be a LOT of things that she was going to find out about Travis Marlowe. It took an hour or so before she cleared him she did not know what else she could do. Once he was dressed and on the way to the Armory, she began to send her report to Miranda and also began to make a list for Shepard to look at.

…

In the Armory...

Jacob was busy checking the inventory of weapons that they had, so far it was just basic weapons for the time being and he was eager to finally get his hands on some real firepower. The new guy Travis was soon going to be on his way to let him see what sort of weapons he carried. Jacob had read what he could on this guy and he could not help but shake his head a bit. There was a reason for it as the idea of holding weapons that still used powder propellant, bullets, and magazines was something he had not expected. That was because no one makes bullets anymore, and when he meant no one, he meant NO ONE, at least the ones who did things legitimately.

But even in places like the Terminus Systems, finding people who still used bullets was rather hard to accomplish since Mass Accelerator weapons were the bread and butter weapons of everyone from one side of the galaxy to the next.

(I have no idea how he was able to best those mercs and slavers, but might as well look this all over and see what he is packing.)

He turned as the door chimed a bit and in walked Travis Marlowe, still wearing his Courier Duster and carrying his Bozar on his back. He enjoyed looking at the CIC and wished that he had a setup like that back in his pad, but said nothing of it though he did wonder why some of the crew looked at him a bit oddly. Jacob eyed the weapon and then spoke to Travis as amicably as he could.

"So you're the man we came to pick up, name's Jacob Taylor, I run the Normandy's Armory here, and as you already know, Commander Shepard asked me to check out your gear."

"She did huh? I can wager a guess that you've seen some very interesting weapons in your day right?"

Jacob smiled a bit at that and replied

"You can say that, so I want to see just what sort of gear you plan to bring in to the armory, and I can wager a guess that weapon on your back is one of them."

Travis grinned as he took the Bozar off and replied as he placed it in front of Jacob.

"Yep, this is a present I bought from the Gun Runners; they call this baby the Bozar, a fully automatic sniper rifle that can use 5.56mm rounds of either regular, hollow point or armor piercing variety. It' s a pain to repair and is a bit difficult to use when you don't treat it with care and respect, but when it comes to layering the enemy with bullets at long range and in rapid succession, there's nothing like it. It's no one hit kill weapon like my Anti-material rifle, but it gets the job done."

Jacob took the gun and had to admit as he held it that it certainly looked mean and well made, so it must be a hell of a workout to keep in good condition. The weapon was bit on the heavy side but not so much and fairly balanced from one end to the next so he was not all too surprised that it was used as a sniper rifles, but hearing of it being full auto was a bit of an eye opener.

"This is fully automatic? Isn't there recoil issues?"

"Yeah, there's some, but it can be worked out if you know how to compensate and adapt. Besides, you have no idea just how many times this baby had saved my hide in battle."

Jacob decided not to comment for the time being as he placed the weapon away and looked at the leather armor his guest was wearing. It had a certain look about it that said that while it looked useless in a firefight, it had a bad ass like look to it. He however focused on the device that was on Travis's arm. That device was certainly something that he had never seen before in his life, but from what the Illusive Man said, it was the source of Travis' ability to switch weapons on the fly.

He decided to test the device a bit and spoke to Travis.

"Is this your only weapon?"

"Nope, I carry a whole arsenal with me, thanks to this device."

Jacob looked at that device and wondered just what it could do, he had heard the on the fly report about Travis, namely about his combat skills, his appearance but he was not going to take that at face value just yet.

"All right, let's see those weapons of yours."

Travis raised an eyebrow at that and replied.

"Are you sure about that idea of me to reveal ALL of my weapons? I mean, I carry a LOT of weapons here with me, don't let the fact that I am only carrying my Bozar fool you into thinking that it's my only weapon. This Pip boy of mine has stored a LOT of things and I might end up clogging up the place."

Jacob smiled a bit and replied.

"Don't worry, this place has enough room and we have containers to store away excess weapons as well as some devices to make new supplies if needed. That includes thermal clips for all manner of weapons. So let's see what you're packing."

Travis could see that Jacob was not going to back down on this and he sighed a bit as he replied as he placed down his Bozar.

"All right, but don't say I did not warn ya."

…

Travis started first with his selection of Melee and Unarmed weapons since they were the less room consuming of his arsenal. He took out his collection of Knives first, removing his fully upgraded GRA Vibro-blade, a Bowie Knife, the Bloody Nap, Chance's Knife, a set of Clean Cosmic Knives along with a set of Super-heated Cosmic Knives, a fully upgraded Thermic Lance, a pair of fully improved GRA Katana swords with Saturnite Alloy Blades along with the Authentic Steel Blades, a fully upgraded GRA Chainsaw, The Blade of the East along with it's partner weapon the Blade of the West, a Proton Axe along with the Protonic Inversal Axe, the Gehenna, and a Clean Knife Spear.

He also unleashed a very well treated band of Throwing Knives as well as a large amount of Saturnite Alloy Throwing Knives, as well as a number of Proton Throwing Axes and Protonic Inversal Throwing Axes.

He was not done yet as he took out the only blunt melee weapon he carried and that was the Super Sledge known as the Oh Baby! This weapon had been something that he trusted since he could recall how many Legionary skulls he busted up along with a list of all the other enemies who's heads he busted up. The only thing he disliked about having this weapon was the fact that he spent half the time cleaning the thing of all the brain matter, skin, flesh, insect carapaces and the like after bashing them to pieces.

He then moved to removing his Unarmed weapons of choice, this included a fully upgraded Ballistic Fist as well as the Two Step Goodbye, a Bladed Gauntlet and the Cram Opener, A GRA made Power Fist with all the upgrades and the Greased Lightning, a Saturnite Fist and a super heated Saturnite Fist, a Displacer Glove as well as the Pushy, and the Zap Glove as well as the Paladin Toaster.

The weapons he revealed already took over one part of the Armory of the Normandy as he then moved to take out his arsenal of Guns. He took out his fully upgraded 9mm Pistol and the same gun that he had been shot with and used to shoot the former owner Benny known as Maria, then a pair of fully upgraded 10mm Pistols, he then took out his fully upgraded 12.7mm Pistol as well as the Li'l Devil, next to join them was his gifted Ranger Sequoia and a fully upgraded Hunting Revolver, next was one of his favored guns the 'That Gun' and a standard 5.56 Pistol,, a fully upgraded .44 Magnum, the last pair being a fully upgraded .45 Pistol and a gift from the former Legate and one of his allies Joshua Graham the "A Light Shining in the Darkness'.

He then removed his collection of SMGs which was a fully upgraded 10mm SMG and the Sleepy Time, next he took out his fully upgraded 12.7mm SMG and the GAR version of said weapon with all upgrades, next was his fully upgraded .45 Auto submachine gun, and the last was his H&H Tools Nail Gun.

Travis then focused on his Shotgun collection as he took out his favored fully upgraded Hunting Shotgun and the one he won from Red Lucy, the Dinner Bell, he moved then to remove his Riot Shotgun , followed by his two Lever Action shotguns but kept his new Shotgun away for now.

Next were his list of Rifles, he removed his fully upgraded GRA Anti-Material Rifle, his chosen Assault Carbine made by the GRA with full upgrades and another one with the same upgrades, next were his fully improved Service Rifle and the Survivalist Rifle, the Bozar was soon joined by a fully upgraded Light Machine Gun with a Reinforced Saturnite Alloy Frame courtesy of Dala for lighter weight and increased durability, next was a fully upgraded Sniper Rifle as well as the Sniper Rifle carried by his partner in Sierra Madre Christine, and the Gobi Campaign Sniper Rifle, he then took out his Marksman Carbine as well as the All American, a pair of fully upgraded Cowboy Repeaters, next was his Ratslayer rifle, then his fully upgraded Hunting Rifle with a specially introduced Saturnite bayonet blade added as well as the Paciencia, a fully upgraded Trail Carbine and a fully upgraded Brush Gun with a specially included Carbon Fiber skeleton frame.

He then moved to take out his collection of Heavy Guns and removed his fully upgraded 5mm Mini-gun and the CZ57 Avenger , followed by a fully functional Shoulder mounted Machine Gun along with the FIDO.

As this took over another side of the Armory, Travis moved to another side as he now resorted to taking out his Explosive weapons. He took out a good amount of C4 explosive blocks, at least twenty of said explosives thus far, a small amount of Bottle cap Mines, next were a small pile of Time Bombs that were high yield along with a pack of Sachet charges, and a number of Fat Mines.

Next were his collection of Grenades, the first were a bunch of Frag Grenades, a number of Plasma Grenades, then a pile of Pulse Grenades, a number of Flash Grenades, a good number of Incendiary Grenades, MFC Cluster Grenades, a number of MFC grenades, next were a small amount of Nuka Grenades.

Next were his explosive weapons, he started with his Thump Thump and the Red Victory Grenade Rifle, next was his fully upgraded 25mm grenade APW, then his upgraded Grenade Machine Gun and the one called Mercy, that was soon followed by his fully upgrade Missile Launcher as well as Annabelle, next was his GRA made Fat Man and also Esther, next was a Grenade Launcher, and he rounded it off by the fully upgraded Red Glare.

That many explosive weapons took out another area of the Armory as he saw that he had room left for his energy weapons. He naturally started with his pistol variants with his pair of fully upgraded GRA Laser Pistols, next was his two upgraded GRA Plasma Defenders, next to follow was his pair of fully improved GRA Plasma Pistols, next was his Pulse Gun, the last was his Recharger Pistol and the specially made GRA version of said weapon.

He then moved to his Energy Rifles as he took out his Gauss Rifle and the specially made YCS/186, next were a pair of LAERs, the last being Elijah's personal LAER and the first being fully upgraded with an improved system pacakage courtesy of Dala, next was his fully upgraded Laser Rifle, his upgraded Laser RCW was next, then his upgraded Plasma Rifle, then the Tri Beam Laser Rifle from GRA, the Q-35 Matter Modulator.

And last he moved to place his heavy Energy Weapons, starting with a fully upgraded Gattling Laser and his favored Sprtel-Wood 9700, his upgraded Plasma Caster and the Smitty Special soon came out, next was his Heavy Incinerator, a fully upgraded Flame Thrower and the Cleansing Flame made by GRA, next was his upgraded Arc Wielder, and last were his Tesla Cannon, Elijah's Jury Rigged version, and the Tesla Beaton that he found near that Enclave Verti-bird with Arcade.

As he knew now that his arsenal was removed he stopped and then looked at the utterly speechless Jacob Taylor and grinned a bit more as he spoke.

"See what I mean? Now you know why I said I literally carry an Armory with me right? Be lucky I did not release my supplies of ammunition for the guns and the power cells for the energy weapons, because they would be enough to fill almost this entire place. And let's not even go to my supplies of medicine, stims, drugs, food, drink, clothes and armor."

"H-H-How?"

"This is the reason why I was called Warbringer man, I bring war on anyone's doorstep who's my enemy. My guns that use bullets might be old fashioned to those weapons you have with you, but I can still kick the crap out of any foe I face, so I can bet that I am hardly weak when it comes to combat."

…

In Miranda's office…

Jacob was not the only one who's jaw was hanging open as Miranda was reading over and over the reports given by Chakwas when it concerned Travis' medical reports. The reports pertaining to the man's biology was more than enough to make her raise an eyebrow as such things were very hard to fathom.

(High levels of synthetic white blood cells to counter advanced levels of poisons, a strange coating on the major bones of the skeleton that reinforces the bones to be near unbreakable, the bones themselves also appear to have been reinforced through extensive trauma and are a lot more durable thus making the limbs more resilient than before, improved blood chemistry for increased flow of nutrients and biological energy through the body, strange internal growths that somehow absorb radiation that normally would be dangerous to humans and convert it into energy used for healing, increased ability to absorb water for improved re hydration, enhanced muscle structure to handle heavier loads and stresses on the body, special growths under the skin that are not cancerous that can actually convert sunlight into energy to enhance physical strength and to also assure a level of light tissue repair, and enhanced nervous system for reaction times and speed.)

Miranda read the reports bit by bit to see if there was anything she had missed, but she found nothing to show that all she had read was false. There was also the fact that according to Chakwas' reports, the changes in Travis' biology were actually evolved, this was not done through genetic manipulation or surgery.

There were also traces of radiation in his blood and tissue samples as well as signs of poison and toxin damage on his body that somehow healed and possibly even…contributed to the changes into his body, no mater how outrageous it sounded. The radiation also seemed to come not just from exposure to radiation sources, but from food and drink as well , possibly contributing to Travis'…unique physiology .

(How is that even possible? What sort of human is this Travis Marlowe? No one could survive this level of effects and STILL be genetically human, let alone look like that!)

She also looked at the reports Chakwas made about finding a number of implants in the man as well as technology that she had never seen before in her life.

(Implants that have somehow improved his endurance, strength, agility, perception, and intelligence to a higher level than that of a regular human, an implant that somehow manufactures non toxic iron that bonds to body cells, increasing structural integrity of the body and the skin, an implant that serves to actually increase the recovery rate of cells and even repair damaged tissues and organs, another implant that seems to actually dampen sounds made by body movement, and implant that somehow increases natural speed, perception and reaction, and who knows what else. What sort of technology did they have to make Travis like this?)

The Cerberus Operative had to admit that Travis was certainly talented and seemed to radiate an aura of confidence as well as experience, the kind that came from being battle hardened and tested. Still she was unsure what to make of him, it was obvious to her that he had no formal military training and while certainly…well built as Jacob was, he did not act like Jacob. Sure Cerberus was a bit loose than the Alliance when it came to protocol, but even Jacob still retained military discipline and focus. This man acted more like a civilian and possibly was one before becoming this battle hardened. There was a chance that he was more than what he seemed and these discoveries were more than enough to confirm her thoughts on the matter.

There was a need to send this to the Illusive Man and she had no doubts that he was going to be very interested in finding out more. The technology and credits they poured into bringing Shepard back from the dead was extensive, most of the technology that was developed was bleeding edge, not even the Alliance came with it, and the credits they poured into Shepard would have paid for a full army, in short it was ludicrously generous for just one person.

But this man seemed to come in very close to it as well and yet they had no idea who this man was and where he came from at all. The whole thing was filled with mystery and if there was something that got Miranda's attention, it was a mystery and she did not mean in a good way. As an intelligence operative, she was required to know whatever was deemed needed and not knowing things was an open invitation to being caught off guard and quite possibly dead.

She had no doubt that as soon as this report was sent to the Illusive Man, along with what Jacob could report on the man's arsenals, it was going to send the whole situation into one very serious spin cycle. But she had to know more of Travis before sending that report to the Illusive Man, she could not afford to miss a single detail to what could be one of the most interesting and mysterious people in this galaxy for many reasons.

…

Elsewhere on the Normandy…

Angela Shepard sighed as she made her way to the bridge from her cabin a half hour after Travis had arrived to the Armory and moved to check up with Joker and see what the helmsman was up to while he was on the pilot's chair.

(No doubt getting into a verbal match with EDI again.)

She moved on and soon arrived to see that Joker was in a bit of a match with EDI, though in this case, she arrived a bit too late and Joker spoke to her.

"You know Commander, the more I hang out with that talking coffee maker, the more I wished I was back in the old Normandy, at least I don't have to worry about being watched by something trying to butt in."

"As long as you don't get a blow torch Joker, I can live with that."

"Hey, I might not like the electronic nanny on board, but I would not go that far, though if she bugs me too much, I might try that. Anyway, are you sure having that guy on this mission's a good idea?"

"You mean Travis? I don't honestly know either, he can fight and from what I saw in the video, he can be an asset, still…"

Joker sighed a bit at that and replied.

"I know, I miss the LT too, hell me and Chakwas miss him and now we have this Travis guy who's an exact mirror image of him and from what I heard, even SOUNDS like the LT, with some subtle differences. I ain't saying he's bad news since I have yet to see him in action or meet him myself, but just cause he LOOKS like Kaidan and even sounds like him does not mean that he's the same."

Angela sighed and replied.

"I know that, but imagine how I feel about all this for a minute Joker, I was the one who ordered Kaidan to stay behind. I LEFT him there and I wished to God I never gave that order, but I did. And I had to live with the fact that I ordered it, hell when I died in over that planet after the Normandy blew apart around me, I was hoping that I could meet Kaidan in some afterlife if there was one. But here I am, saving the galaxy from the Reapers and itself and now this, how do you think I feel about seeing someone who LOOKS and SOUNDS just like the man I loved and the man I left behind to die to save the whole galaxy? Hell for all I know, he might even SMELL like Kaidan! If this is fate playing a cosmic joke on me, then it's bloody working in the wrong fashion!"

Joker could tell that Shepard was tired by this and he could not blame her as he replied.

"I guess so, but we can't do anything about it at all Commander, all we can do is wait and see just how things turn out. And who knows what can happen right?"

Shepard nodded a bit though she was still not too sure how act around Travis yet since every time she looked at him, she was reminded of Kaidan who died under her command. She shook her head a bit more and decided to reply a bit, Joker did not deserve to see her like that, he and so many people trusted her, they were with her and the last thing they needed to see was her breaking down. She could do that in private later and decided to go and meet up with Chakwas to see what the doctor could dig up about the man, as well as see Jacob.

"I guess that's true, I'll reserve judgment for now until I see this guy in action for myself, anyway, let's make sure that we make no mention of Kaidan to Travis all right?"

"All right Commander, but uh, I recommend that you go double for yourself, you're going to be around him a lot if we're on this mission to fight the Collectors after all."

Shepard nodded a bit at the truth in Joker's statements and replied.

"I'll keep that in mind, anyway, try not to ruin anything, no matter how tempted you are Joker, play nice with EDI once in a while, that way she might just lay off with you."

…

The CIC and just outside of the Armory…

Joker's annoyed snort made Shepard laugh a bit as she moved to the elevator to see Chakwas but her trip was not needed as the doctor in question came up to the CIC. The moment she saw Chakwas, she knew that something was up since this was by far the only time Chakwas ever left the Medical Bay was when she needed to eat, drink, or heed the natural call of nature. The woman looked at her and spoke seriously.

"Commander, I think you should look at the results."

Shepard could see that Chakwas was very much interest in the results of her tests and that was something that worried her. The tests were for Travis and considering how the doctor looked, she had to wonder just what was going on, and if it was detrimental or beneficial to the crew.

'What's going on Doc? Is something wrong with Travis?"

"No. but I can assure you, you need to see these results. He's human all right, but he's NOT like any human I have seen before."

That made Shepard even more curious as she looked at the data-pad, she was unsure why is it that Chakwas said that Travis was human but unlike any human she had ever seen before. But the very second she began to read the medical data on Travis, her deep green eyes were quick to widen and her hand holding the data pad became rather stiff as she clutched the device. She looked at the information again and again, running all of it through her mind back and forth and she could not help but try to make sense of all this.

(How the hell did he become like this?-! Was he some sort of Cerberus Project that the Illusive Man was kept in the dark about?-! There's no way that any human could possibly have THIS many changes done to them and still be alive!)

She looked over the data again and then looked at Chakwas, she did not want to ask her friend the question on the tip of her tongue. She knew better than to question Chakwas as her friend's qualifications as a medical professional were beyond reproach and she had saved her life along with the others MORE than once when hunting Saren and the other missions they got dragged into. But still, she could not help but want to ask the questions as things like this were way too fantastic and disturbing to believe.

Chakwas however was quick on the uptake and replied seriously.

"Believe me Shepard, I ran the tests at least five to six times before I released Travis and I assure you, what I found thus far is one hundred percent accurate. I can hardly believe it myself as well."

"Does Miranda know?"

"Yes she does, I filed in the reports to her as well, and that means the Illusive man is going to know about him soon enough."

Shepard groaned at that and replied.

"Great, I get the feeling that as soon as this comes out, they might decide to take Travis and start experimenting on him. God! As if I did not have enough on my plate, now I have a man who could very well the perfect superhuman walking on my deck."

Thankfully the rest of the crew were not listening fully yet though Kelly herself moved to join the two women as she spoke to them.

"Commander, I believe that Mr. Taylor wanted to talk to you, I believe he is planning to speak about the arsenal carried by Mr. Marlowe."

Angela Shepard sighed a bit and nodded as she headed for the armory just as the elevator came up to reveal Miranda, she decided to slow down a bit and spoke directly to Miranda.

"I take it you read the reports about Travis's UNIQUE abilities Miranda?"

The Cerberus Operative nodded seriously and replied.

"I have, and I can tell you right now Shepard that I am very much shocked and confused as anyone else."

Angela was not too sure that she could believe Miranda and decided to make that obvious to Miranda though she made sure to be nice about it for now. She did not fully trust Miranda but she was not going to let this interfere with the mission. She did not ever forget what she learned from Corporal Toombs when she had been told by Hackett about the disappearing scientists who were actually tied to Cerberus. She could not help but wonder if what happened to Travis was similar to what happened to Toombs.

"Was Travis part of some Cerberus Project that went off the rails when the Illusive Man was not looking?"

Miranda was shocked by that, sure there were some projects that were bit on the weird side in Cerberus that she heard of, but never something like THIS. She would have heard of it personally if there ever was one after all, the only project she ever worked on extensively was when they were trying to bring Angela back to life an that had taken two years. It had been hard to do and if there was a project of Cerberus that made Travis into what he was, then why was it that the Illusive Man only found out about it now?

"That's hard to imagine Shepard, we only found out about Travis hours to nearly a day ago, so there's little chance it's one of the projects done by a cell. Even the most isolated cells have to report in and I know for a fact that there has been no mention of any cell willing to transform a person into, whatever Travis is. Something like that would haven been already phenomenally expensive and risky to keep hidden forever. And after looking at the medical reports like you, there's no way that this easily be accomplished. Even if it had been years the only place that it could be done would be on the Krogan world of Tuchanka. So I can say with full certainty that whatever was done that made Travis this way was not done by Cerberus."

"And what about what happened on Akuze and to Corporal Toombs?"

"Was done by another cell Shepard, and it was called off after Toombs attacked the scientists with your help I might add along with the fact that the Alliance arrested those who were part of it. Look, I know you don't trust Cerberus fully but I am telling you that we had no part of this."

Angela said nothing for a moment or two and then replied.

"Then I guess the only way to get the answers we both want is to ask him."

Miranda nodded and replied.

"On that we can agree on without restraint, I heard he was in the Armory with Jacob. No doubt Jacob's already cataloging the man's arsenals and what else he was carrying apart from what was seen on the video recordings."

"And what do you think of it Miranda?"

Miranda recalled the images of the battle and replied.

"I have to admit that the technology was surprising but I have to be a bit skeptical that one could carry that much weaponry and armor all by…himself."

The reason for the stopping of Miranda's speech was obvious as the two of them entered the Armory and there before them was Travis' fully released arsenal.

…

Armory

The very second the two women entered the Armory, they were treated to the sight of Travis' very extensive collection of death dealing weapons. There in the middle of the room was Travis who was grinning like a happy monkey and Jacob who was looking at the weapons that now filled up his Armory. The two women were utterly flabbergasted as they had not expected this, Shepard had never seen this many weapons before and Miranda had NO idea just how these even got there. The Cerberus Operative knew that Jacob was not the kind of person to leave the Armory like this and Shepard herself was still trying to grasp that the once pristine Armory was now filled with this many weapons and both of them spoke at the same time.

"What the hell?"

"Where did all THIS come from?"

Miranda turned to Jacob and spoke seriously.

"Jacob, just WHERE did all this come from? I certainly don't recall placing orders for ANY of these weapons!"

Jacob turned and pointed his finger at Travis and finally spoke.

"Ask the walking arsenal over here, he OWNS all of this."

Both women looked at Travis with shocked and utterly incredulous eyes, to which Travis merely smiled and replied.

"Don't worry, I'll pack all of this away before I go to my quarters once you assign me one, when I'm done, this place is going to be back to full pristine condition."

Miranda managed to get her mind back to full status as she looked once more at the veritable arsenal that was before her. The fact that he was able to CARRY all of this and not show it was proof that he had remarkable technology under his command. That alone was shocking as there was no way ANY man could carry all of this without bringing a whole IFV with him into a battle zone, and if he was able to carry this much weapons, just how much was he carrying as well?

"How are you…able to carry all of this? When you came onboard, you only had that rifle with you?"

Shepard then spoke next though she eyed the weapons there before her.

"I have to agree there with Miranda, I might have seen those videos of you when you fought those slavers on New Alaska, but even I find it hard to believe you can carry THIS kind of firepower all by yourself and only through that Pip boy of yours."

Travis grinned a bit more and replied.

"This Pip boy is a very rare piece of technology actually, I was only given this by a doctor and no one makes these anymore as far as I know. Supposedly the only place that could have the technology and facilities to make another one like this is in Vaults. I know some of the mechanics but not that much since all the makers of this little wonder died off a long time ago. All I can say is that having this device has saved my hide more times than I care to count, and since you both saw me…uh, in the Medical bay, you bet that those times were pretty darn gruesome."

The two women looked at Travis, then to his arsenals, then back to him and Shepard nodded a bit as she came to decision. Now was the right time that she got to the bottom of all this and she was not going to beat around the bush either. This Travis was certainly someone they had never met before and seeing his medical reports and the weapons he carried around like it was nothing, it was time to get serious.

"All right, I think it's time we got to talking Travis, meet me in the Comm. Room along with Miranda, Kelly, and Jacob once this…arsenal of yours is placed away."

"No worries, I can do it right now."

And sure enough, Travis did just that, he picked up weapon after weapon and the three could only see the weapons glow a bit and literally vanish into thin air. And in only a span of a few minutes, all of the weapons were gone and the Armory was back to it's pristine state once again. This had literally shocked the living daylights out of anyone who were there, and it included Kelly as she had heard her name being mentioned. She only got to see the weapons briefly and Travis packing them away, but she was utterly amazed at how the weapons were now gone from the room as if they had never been there to begin with.

Travis then waited as the three women moved to the Comm. Room with Jacob following them, once they were in the room, Travis was on one side while all four of them were on the other. The dark haired Courier felt like he had walked into a tribunal but did not mind it as at least three of the people questioning him were very attractive women, one was a very bright and friendly redhead, one was a drop dead gorgeous but stern and cold woman who would have made Cassandra Moore look friendly by a hair, and the other one was a rather attractive blonde with green eyes who not only looked good in armor and carrying a gun, but no doubt knew how to use it them and had used them before.

Travis sighed a bit as he leaned back on the rail behind him and spoke seriously.

"All right, what is it you want to talk to me about?"

Shepard took first swing.

"First off, who are you and where do you come from? You are certainly not from anywhere and both I and Miranda read your medical reports. You have a large array of natural abilities that no human normally has and it's not the work of gene therapy either. That means all of it was naturally developed, which by all rights is impossible considering we got word of you only a DAY ago. So unless you were born fully grown, that tells us that you are definitely NOT from around here."

Miranda was nest.

"There's also the fact that the medical reports showed that have undergone some very interesting and dare I say…radical augmentations and not just to your bones and nerves, but also to your heart, brain, and spine. Next you also happen to have a number of implants that not only enhance your abilities but give you certain traits that are in themselves very hard to dismiss."

Kelly was next to speak.

"And as much as the situation was…unorthodox, you carried an array of wounds and scars that indicate a very…extensive level of dangerous encounters. So dangerous in fact that by all rights, any human no matter how well trained, physically fit and endowed or medically treated should not be able to walk away from alive, and also without massive mental and psychological scarring and trauma. Such people would normally be in psychiatric wards or in mental asylums, yet you show no signs of full…mental imbalance. And there is the fact that you also have the signs of a person who has undergone a considerable amount of surgery, also not a very pleasant experience to say the least."

Jacob finally decided to wrap it up as he crossed his arms and spoke.

"And let's not forget that you had just revealed that you carried an arsenal of weapons, explosives, and more that by all rights is impossible for any one man to carry. Anyone who tries to even carry that much firepower would have broken his or her back a thousand times over, and it would have also been nigh impossible for one to HIDE that much firepower. Plus all those weapons by all rights could be enough to field a small army and allow them to win a small war. And yet you could and that device you have actually allows you to make those weapons DISAPPEAR."

Shepard looked at Travis once more and could not help but see his resemblance to Kaidan, but she placed that aside as she needed answers for these discoveries. There was too much mystery here and now was a good a time as any to find out the truth.

"So, who exactly are you Travis Marlowe?"

Travis could see that he would gain nothing trying to hide himself and doing so would only antagonize everyone here on the Normandy. They were taking on a mission to fight these Collectors to stop the kidnapping of humans, and while he had never heard of these Collector beings before, their actions did not sound the least bit good. Shepard told him along the way that it was seen by a lot as a suicide mission, but she was going to take it to save the Galaxy from the Collectors and their masters…these Reapers and she needed the best. And while he was someone who was not in the list, he was chosen because her…benefactor who built the Normandy and funding this mission felt he could help.

From what he gathered thus far, Shepard was some hero or another and was very famous to boot and was seen as the best so she needed the best. And since there were those who felt it was a one way trip, she aimed to prove them wrong. He had not seen her in action yet, along with Jacob and Miranda but he could tell that all three of them were very capable and skilled so he was going to have to see for himself when they were going to fight. But they would need to work together and that required trust, and no doubt the same could be asked of the others, including him as well. So he had to tell them who he was so they would understand.

Still, he had his doubts that they would believe him even with all they had learned and he decided to make that mental stance of his obvious to them.

"All right, I'll tell you who I am and where I came from, but it might be so strange and hard to fathom that you might not believe me."

Shepard shook her head and replied with a slight smirk.

"Look Travis, we just found out that you have these abilities, natural and augmented that by any stretch of the imagination, you would be a super human or a cyborg. Add to that the fact that you have a literal map of battle wounds, scars on you that say that you came from a world that possibly was like hell in a hand basket. And then there is the fact that we discover only minutes ago that you carrying firepower that is both old fashioned yet deadly as well as high tech to equip a small army and technology that is beyond anything we've seen thus far. Put all of that together into you, along with your…rather unique arrival and status here, then I can say that all of us are willing to take a risk to listen to you."

Travis looked at Shepard and saw that she was dead serious about this, and as much as he did not want to show it, when she looked like that, she looked a lot more attractive on his eyes. He quickly reined in those thoughts since now was not the time for it, maybe later when he and Shepard could talk together. He nodded a bit and decided to reach into his Pip boy and took out a bottle of whiskey, his favored drink and took a slight sip before placing it away and replied.

"All right, but don't say I didn't warn ya. All right first off, if you have questions, then ask them after I am done with what I am saying. Don't rush me either since I don't like to be rushed since doing that spoils the whole thing. My name is Travis Marlowe and it was the name my mother gave me, I was born in the Mojave region of what used to be California and there's a reason I am different from you and also have different technology to boot. You see, I'm not from anywhere, not even your Earth."

All four of the people on the other side of the room said the same word.

"What?"

"I am from Earth, but NOT the earth you know, hell not even possibly the same reality you know. I came from a reality where it's the year 2281, and only two hundred years ago, there was a massive war that sent the whole world down the proverbial shit hole. I ain't a history buff or anything but that war was between what was the USA and this other place called China and the results of it were total world devastation.."

And soon all four of the crew of the Normandy were treated to the story of Travis Marlowe, former Courier, hero of the Mojave Wasteland. And it was going to be a very LONG story.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's notes:

There we go, at least this is now over and done with, and I hope that I was able to do a very good job in bringing Travis into the Normandy. He might not be very sure about working with Shepard since she is a new face, but he is a good man at heart and helping people out is in his blood despite his origins. And you can bet that he will be very curious why is it that Shepard acts like she knows him even though he's never met her.

Now let's get down to the perks that Travis has, it's a fairly long list and I will also get to the kinds of weapons he has with him. Hopefully this will give you an idea of just how well armed Travis is.

Lady Killer

Burden to Bear

Cowboy

Grunt

Better Criticals

Comprehension

Strength Implant

Intelligence Implant

Agility Implant

Endurance Implant

Perception Implant

Big Brained

Reinforced Spine

Cardiac Arrest

Implant GRX

Implant C-13

Implant M-5

Implant Y-3

Implant Y-7

Commando

Heavy weight

Toughness

Pack Rat

Old World Gourmet

Atomic!

Tribal Wisdom

Hit The Deck!

Rad Child

Solar Powered

Splash Damage

Plasma Spaz

Laser Commander

Adamantium Skeleton

And Stay Back

Shotgun Surgeon

Hobbler

Khan Trick

Scribe Courier

Ranger Takedown

Monocyte Breeder

Sub-dermal Implant

Lord Death Rank 3

Machine Head Rank 3

Robotics Expert

Melee Hacker Rank 3

Animal Control Rank 3

Bug Stomper Rank 3

Free Radical

Camel of the Mojave

Nerves of Steel

Slayer

Concentrated Fire

Unstoppable Force

Sniper

Pyromaniac

Piercing Strike

Strong Back

Educated

Mad Bomber

Silent Running

Ninja

The Professional

Abominable Rank 3

Mutant Massacre Rank 3

Quick draw

Rapid Reload

Purifier

Scourge of the East

Power Armor Training

Light Step

And Stay Back!

Intense Training Rank 4

Entomologist

Demolitions Expert

Hand Loader

Vigilant Recycler

And there is the perk list for Travis and you can bet that since Travis Marlowe is a Level 50 character, he is no weakling and can really be a deadly addition to the crew of Commander Shepard. Each perk will play it's part in the battles to come. And as for weapons and ammunition, I have a good deal of plans for how they will play the game. And since you have already seen just what sort of weapons Travis is carrying, he will not be easily dismissed despite the fact that his guns technically are antique and outdated. Sure there's a lot of weapons and whatnot on him, but I do know that the proper perks and skill management can counter that so there.

Now that he has revealed himself somewhat to the people on the Normandy, you can bet that it will not be long before he will learn about Kaidan Alenko and who he was. Naturally he would be surprised that he actually resembled the man, and even discovers the fact that Kaidan and Shepard were romantically involved before he was killed in Vrmire. How will he deal with the fact that he is an exact replica of the man Shepard fell in love with is going to be seen soon enough.

And yes, I KNOW the injuries he sustained sound like overkill, but if you were to think about it, he does live in the Fallout world so anyone who has played it knows already the kind of dangers he had to deal with on a regular basis. And he did get shot in the head, twice I might add so for a guy who's supposed to be dead, he's pretty healthy. And considering the rather long list of foes he has fought, you can bet he did not escape injury at all.

I also have a scene that I have in mind to highlight just how helpful Travis is to the group and you can bet that it will be rather explosive.

…

Travis ducked down as the Eclipse mercs began to close in as he was currently with Miranda, Shepard, and Jack. They were on their way to help Miranda with her sister's relocation when they got jumped, and already the numbers were getting bad. He however decided that now was the right time to take out the new weapon he had Dala make.

The weapon appeared and he took out the drum magazine that carried the shells as Miranda spoke.

"What on Earth are you doing?"

"You'll see, before I do this though, any of you have sensitive hearing?"

Confused as to why he would ask that question, all three shook their heads, Travis nodded and merely shouted out a warning.

"GOING LOUD!"

*Battle Ends*

Shepard, Jack and Miranda looked on at the carnage before them as Travis laughed a little manically as he spoke to the fleeing Eclipse mercs who SOMEHOW evaded his wrath.

"As I walk in the valley under the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, because I am the meanest son of a bitch in the whole freaking valley!"

Jack whistled and shook her head, no doubt to get rid of the ringing in her ears.

"Fucking hell, where can I get me one of those?"

…

There, wager a guess what the weapon is, here's a hint, it's one of the guns from Fallout 2, I loved that weapon so much I decided to have Dala make it.

See you all soon!

(Made some changes due to some errors, hope that helps!)


	3. Chapter 3

Mass Effect: Warbringer

Disclaimer: Again…here we go again, let me be clear, I don't own Fallout of Mass Effect, there, everyone happy?

Chapter 2

Part 1

Clinical Chaos…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Normandy Comm. Room…

Travis was able to wind down the story of his life and everything that happened to his more than silent audience, and as soon as he was done he decided to let them react on their own terms. He had no doubt that what he had told them sounded WAY too much to take in but he was not going to back down, that was his life in a nutshell. If they did not believe him, then that was their business.

And naturally, the four of them were still trying to see if he was jerking their proverbial chain, with Miranda being the first to speak.

"You honestly expect us to believe what you've just told us?"

Travis looked at Miranda and replied with a slightly annoyed but still calm tone.

"I told you that you might have a hard time believing me, but that's the only truth I am willing to let out. Besides, you've seen my gear and everything else, so what do you think?"

Miranda looked at Travis and sighed a bit to herself as she knew he did have a point. As impossible as his story sounded, it did begin to make SOME level of sense since it could explain his technology and abilities more clearly. That did not mean that she could juust accept it like fact in a moment. Travis coming from an alternate reality where all human civilization was sent to a post apocalyptic nuclear time line was something she had only heard aboutin old science fiction vids.

As for Jacob, he raised his eyebrows and spoke next.

"So in your world, mankind was literally blasted back to the proverbial Stone Age?"

"Parts of it were, most of the bombs that fell hit only major locations, some places survived though either by luck of distance. But everything was eventually affected. And I have to say that the things and beings I have seen defy belief…at least as far as things went."

"So how did people survive?"

Travis gave a slightly haunted look and replied.

"Any way you can…even if it means breaking your morals down as well as dumping sentimentality. I was not born in the after affects of the war, but I heard the stories and I've seen the shit that happens, it is not pretty, and it can chew you up, spit you out, then piss and shit on you for good measure. Takes a seriously dedicated person to stick to his morals in a place like the Wasteland, or you having absolutely no morals and you do what you can to live. At least my parents had the skills to raise me right and teach me all I know. I can't begin to imagine what it was like to see the whole world bathed in fire and people driven half mad days after the bombs fell, and I don't want to either."

That look did not escape the attention of the crew there in the Comm. Room and after what they had learned, they could at least empathize with Travis.

…

Miranda thought about the implications of what life must be like on such a changed world. Society gone down the proverbial drain, law and order ruined, no moral boundaries, mutated plants and animals, insane people. The dangers alone must really demand a great deal of mental and physical strength as well as toughness and could easily weed out the weak and frail. In some ways, the Earth where Travis came from sounded like a slightly toned down version of the Krogan home world of Tuchanka. The fact that civilization in his world managed to rebuild after nuclear Armageddon was a testament in her mind to the human spirit and will to survive. There was no doubt in her mind that already the Illusive Man would hear of this and would be mulling over the data so for now, she had her hands full with Travis and Shepard.

…

Jacob could not even begin to guess how harsh life was in the Wasteland; he could bet the situation just days after the bombs fell must have felt like hell itself had descended on humanity. The images in his mind of what it must have been like were not pretty in the least, Eden Prime was pretty bad when the Geth under Saren hit, but he had his doubts that it was the same as Travis' home world. He might not like the politics and red tape in government, but the idea of living in a world gone mad with nuclear fire and society in ruins, people being driven to the point of madness, and more was NOT the least bit pleasant in his POV. The dangers there from what Travis told him sounded like al those post apocalyptic movie vids he had seen as a kid and when he could sneak them past his mother and father. All of it sounded too fantastic to be real, but in Travis, the evidence was there for him to see.

…

Shepard could now understand just what sort of world and life had given someone like Travis such scars and had prompted him to become like this before her with all the abilities and augmentations. Sure it would have sounded weird and downright impossible had she not met Travis in person, but the evidence was there in her face. The kinds of danger that he had to face from the ravaged landscape, the mutated humans, plants and animals, the various groups that called the world home would have seemed like something out of a man's nightmares or someone hopped up red sand and any other drug. But after today, she was starting to see that he was not joking with them

…

Kelly on the other hand spoke out her thoughts, unlike the others who had remained silent in their own thoughts.

"You must have a lot of strength to have lived through all of that."

Travis nodded at that and smiled at Kelly.

"Thanks Miss Chambers, and my parents always said that if you're still alive, then get up and keep moving. Anyway, despite the dangers there in the Mojave, it's not all bad, and at least there are good people there who call the place home, but there are some I do not ever want to see again, the Fiends being the worst of them before I ran against the Legion. I guess I and my friends did everyone a favor wiping them out of the picture permanently."

Miranda thought about it and decided to ask a question, Travis.

"Those two groups were that bad?"

Travis nodded, he had only given them a brief overview of his time in the wastes, that naturally included the lists of his enemies. The Vipers and the Jackals were not too much of the a threat, but he despised the Fiends and Caesar's Legion the most since they were in his mind really the worst he had met.

"Yep, the Fiends were nothing more than a bunch of chem fueled Raiders who also happen to be something of sadists and cannibals to boot. I personally felt much honored to have ended them once and for all when I took that bounty assignment for the NCR. The first one of their leaders I killed was Cook-Cook, and still the one I personally felt happy to have killed."

Jacob raised an eyebrow at the name and spoke.

"This guy's name was Cook-Cook?"

Travis nodded as a shiver of anger went through him when he recalled the Fiend.

"Yeah and the name is hardly funny either once you find out why he has the name, the bastard was a pure animal, the name's for the fact he carried a flame thrower, cooked the meals of the other Fiends, and the fact he uses said flame thrower to roast anything and anyone he likes, animals or people. But the real reason I personally enjoyed ending the bastard's life is because the guy's a serial rapist."

THAT got the attention of the group as Angela spoke to Travis.

"He was a serial rapist?"

"Yeah, the guy would do what he liked to his victims and he does not discriminate either, men or women, young or old, or even children. All of them are not safe with that bastard around, the only view he has for any man or woman, or child he and his running buddies catch is that they are all merely targets for whatever sick and twisted fantasy he has, and targets for him to hit with his flame thrower. I know that he was a serial rapist because in one of my other missions for the NCR, I found out that a band of slavers had sold him four youngsters, three girls and one boy, he made the three girls watch as he had his way with the boy and then incinerate the boy with his flame thrower before doing the same thing to the three other kids."

That made all three women look at Travis with shock and anger, Kelly normally did not get angry as she was generally a cheerful and optimistic woman but the knowledge of this man willing to do that to young children sickened her. Miranda was utterly disgusted as she could see that Travis was not lying to any of them, the thought of such a man being around and preying on his fellow humans like made her very enraged. Angela was just as disgusted as the way this guy acted was totally inhuman and the thought of a guy living the way he did and not giving a damn about others, even children, just raping them when he wanted and then firing a flame thrower at them just for the thrill of it…it just made her wish she had been around to shoot that guy right in the balls and then let him be eaten by a Thresher Maw.

Jacob was just as disgusted, this Cook-Cook guy was in his mind the worst kind of deviant bastard that he had heard about. The idea of this guy getting his kicks by raping men and women, even kids, then using a flame thrower on them was just as disgusting. He then recalled what Travis said about him dealing with this guy first and he asked his question.

"He was the first one of the leaders you killed?"

"Yeah, I went after him first and the Major who gave me the mission said to him that this bounty was personal since before I arrived, Cook Cook had raped one of his snipers, a woman in 1st Recon named Betsy who despite trying to tough it out was mentally traumatized by the whole thing. I also later learned that he did the same thing to another woman named Pretty Sarah, she's not exactly the most virtuous woman but she was not evil and deserved better, Cook Cook did his work on her and it was a miracle that she survived but had massive third degree burns on her back, sides, and some on her face as well. I tracked that bastard down and personally put a .308 Armor Piercing round right in that animal's crotch, then I crippled him to make sure that I made him watch as I executed the only thing he cared about, his pet Brahmin Queenie with a shot in the head, both heads. Then I took his intact head to the Major, I told Betsy and Sarah about it and I can say this much, they slept better afterwards and said I did humanity a favor by killing that bastard."

Travis recalled the memories and then spoke again.

"Anyway, let's just say I hunted down all the other leaders of the Fiends and their leader Motor Runner. But after them, the forces of Caesar's Legion were just as bad, they might try to say they were bringing morality, civilization, justice and whatnot, but their methods were reprehensible and outright disgusting to me. They think that by breaking people and making them live only for the Legion that they can unite humanity, and Caesar said that he was uniting people and making sure that the corruption of the past does not work, but to me, they only live in the past not the present or the future. Their treatment of women is just as bad, and at times worse than most, which is why as much as I hate to say it to you Miss Lawson, Miss Chambers, and you Commander Shepard, you three were lucky you never met the Legion."

Angela did not like the sound of that and neither did Kelly or Miranda and Miranda asked the question in their minds.

"What exactly do they do to women?"

Travis replied seriously.

"Women in the Legion are seen only as slaves, just like everyone else in the Legion, women are seen as merely healers, midwives, caretakers, breeding stock, and pleasure slaves. They can say that the purpose of such a separation of genders and treatment is to realize the potential of the genders, but they break the women's will until the women can do nothing and accept their fate and since they are all slaves, it does not matter if they are men or women in the Legion, they are all supposed to die for Caesar. There's no concept of family, love, family loyalty, or anything resembling human feelings and emotions. If you three were there, the only chance you three would have for a better life is to be an officer's wife…and that's me describing it mildly. You're nothing more than a man's slave and breeding stock and any child you bear will be the Legion's property. Boys will be sent to fight and die for the Legion, while your daughters are placed in the same roles as you were sent."

"That's why to me, you all are lucky for not being there in my world regardless of your technology."

The group was silent by all this though it was more obvious to Kelly, Miranda and Angela as they could help but find the whole idea to be repulsive though they balanced that by their studies in history about the way women were seen in society in the past. And after a while, Angela spoke to Travis as she had a question of her own to ask.

"How did the Legion take to you?"

Travis grinned a bit and replied.

"They usually sent assassin teams to kill me, before when I was always fouling up their plans and after I met with Caesar and then killed him and his little council of assholes with C-4 in their own tent no less. Once I killed their leader and founder, they were more than eager to take my life. But I broke them as well by slaying their military leader Lanius in single combat for all of them to see, and for them to know that a beast was the one who killed their father, God and King, and their greatest general in battle."

"Before they turned tail and ran back to their homeland and after I nuked their main staging ground with a nuke, I caught one Legionary who called me by several names, the most common one was the Destroyer of the Legion, the Scourge of the East, the Slayer of Caesar, and the Slayer of the Chosen of Mars. The only people who were from the Legion I had cordial relations with were Joshua Graham, their former Legate who I helped free from his demons, and Ulysses who I managed to gain trust from and end an old vendetta that I had played an unwitting part in . Those two guys gave me more insight on the Legion since they were part of it from the beginning and up to the Mojave. But in the eyes of everyone else in the Legion…I was their harbinger of death. And I have the scars, chipped teeth, and broken bones to prove it too."

It was here that Angela remained silent for a bit more and then spoke to Travis with a curious expression.

"So that's all you have to tell us about yourself Travis?"

Travis thought about it and after a while nodded.

"Pretty much, I still have a lot of things about me that I did not talk about, but I am not hiding for dangerous reasons. Let's just say that some of the things I have done while good and in many ways the right thing, didn't come without something of a price. I'll tell you all about it when I feel that I can talk about it."

"Also I should talk about the technology I have, with the exception of my bullet using guns since you know about them, is not going to be surrendered to you guys. I have been using the technology for a very long time and as such, I am the only one who knows how they work and how to keep them up to speed, with the exception of the Pip-boy. Like I said, this device on my arm is specially made and not that easy to either make or find. Plus since I am from a different world and reality all together, though that still confuses the hell out of me, the weapons and armor I have that don't use bullets might be hard to grasp."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at that and replied.

"Cerberus has plenty of credits and assets, plus very talented personnel Travis Marlowe, we're not ill equipped to learn new technology."

Travis shrugged a bit and replied.

"Well, where I come from Miss Lawson, we might not have encountered any Turians, Asari, Salarians, and Batarians, travel to other worlds and the like that you take for granted. But we have developed Laser weapons, Plasma Weapons, Micro-fusion, Power Armor, Tesla technology, and a few others. And none of them had anything to do with salvaging any technology from these Protheans I read about in the Codex Dana was kind enough to hand me, and whatever they left behind. This technology is native in my reality and while I have read in same Codex that you do you lasers on your ships, energy weapons for infantry forces are considered as a pipe dream in the eyes of conventional scientist communities right?"

Jacob had to smirk a bit at that and spoke to Miranda.

"He's got a point Miranda, until we know more about the tech he's packing and until he's willing to let us look at it, we might as well wait a bit. Plus if he does not have any spares, we might wind up ruining the ones he has and then we can't make more without at least knowing what makes them tick. Besides, I want to see these energy weapons of his in action myself, and if they are as potent as they were shown in the videos the Illusive Man sent us, then we might as well make sure to have some to fight the Reapers."

…

Miranda thought it over and had to agree, since no one in this reality made weapons that used energy, the ones carried by Travis could be a serious game changer in ever sense of the world. The idea of soldiers being able to wield plasma and laser weapons in the field which was once seen as impossible was too good to ignore, with that kind of technology, they could be able to at least counter or at the very least balance what other tech the Collectors might have from their Reaper leaders or masters. And if it could benefit humanity in the possible war with the Reapers, then making sure that they could be given willing access to such technology was better than just taking it.

Besides, Travis was a skilled fighter and his experience can be very helpful, coupled with the fact he was more knowledgeable with the technology than they were. So in this case, bribing him or torturing him was not going to help. He was by far a man of principles and not one to be intimidated by torture, considering the things he had to face in his reality. Besides, they did have the hidden camera bugs and she hoped that he was not going to find them.

She sighed a bit and nodded..

"All right then, I'll respect your requests Mr. Marlowe, but don't forget that you are still going to have to follow my orders if Shepard is not around."

Travis laughed a bit at that and replied.

"Taking orders from one of two gorgeous women who not only look nice in uniform but also in armor, and might even more so in dresses, and both of whom as far as I have seen and guessed can kick my ass? I can live with that easily enough, I happen to like women who are tough, can kick ass and look good doing it too, and you both fit the bill. As long as we're clear that despite the secrets, we're all on the same side and are here for an important mission, I am more than willing to follow your orders or Miss Shepard's Miss Lawson. But mind you, I draw the line if you ask me to wear a suit and do the…what was that again, oh yeah the waltz. If you were in a dress however, I might consider it"

Jacob was chucking a bit while Kelly merely sighed as she moved away to get to her post while Miranda raised her left eyebrow and Shepard merely shook her head with a slight grin as she spoke.

"I swear you need to work on your sense of humor Mr. Marlowe, that and brush up on your attempts at flirting, as oddly funny as that was. Anyway, we should be reaching the Terminus Systems and then to Omega soon, so we'll first get you settled in."

Travis nodded at that as he was keen on getting some shut eye, as long as the place had a bed, a place for him to clean himself up, space to hide his gear, and large enough not to feel like he was in a prison cell, he was cool with it.

…

Jacob then had a serious expression on his face as he spoke to Travis.

"You know that as soon as we get to Omega, you might be considering using our guns instead of you're own or you can use those energy weapons of yours."

Travis replied to that.

"Why so?"

Jacob replied with a slight smile.

"Not to sound like I am disrespecting your arsenals or anything, but bullets were phased out in our reality here at least fifty years ago, right at the middle of the early 21st century. Not to mention that anyone who could make those either doesn't make them anymore or does not live period. Same goes for any spare parts that your guns might need. We might be hard pressed on getting you the supplies you need for your guns' ammunition so I feel it's better you try using our guns for a while until we figure something out. The energy weapons are better options too since they don't have to rely on solid rounds to do damage."

Jacob and the others thought that Travis was going to argue; after all, the way he proudly showed off his guns told them that he cared deeply for them. A person who loved guns the way Travis might have an aversion to new weapons and technology and that was something that they could not afford. But to their surprise Travis nodded in agreement.

"I understand that, when those…Turians and Batarians showed up I had no idea what sort of weapons they had. The only reason I could think of that I made it this far was the fact they never saw Power Armor before, and the Think Tank upgraded the alloy plating and made my suits lighter, or they had shoddy weapons and did not really think of facing heavy opposition. If there's one thing I learned in the Mojave plus a personal philosophy of mine, never be slow to embrace new ideas. If those new guns you mentioned can give me an edge, then I am taking them. Still, it's going to be hard to give up my weapons since I had a lot of history with them."

Travis took out Maria and replied.

"This gun for example…was the same weapon that suit wearing rat bastard Benny of the Chairmen shot me in the head with. Twice I might add, so when I managed to pilfer this when he wasn't looking, I took pleasure when I did take it and double that when I saw him be shocked learn his piece was not with him and now in my hand. Then I emptied the whole clip into him, and shot his body and guts in alphabetical order to boot. Just to make sure he stayed dead. Still I am good with my energy weapons so I'll bring them if I can."

Angela could not help but shake her head at the news that Travis gave them. Sure she had died while falling through atmosphere and by all rights should have been in a box until she was brought back, but that was with cutting edge technology, dedicated personnel, and enough credits to field an army and a fleet. Travis on the other hand had been shot in the head twice and did not have the benefit of a lot of medical technology she took for granted, and had to be healed manually.

(No wonder he mentioned that Doc Mitchell character…must have been one hell of a doctor to have patched up a man who was shot in the head twice. Chakwas might like to meet him.)

It was here that Angela had an idea, it would have sounded weird, but considering how much money and resources had been used to bring her back to life and build the Normandy, that would not sound impossible. And considering the fact that they did have the tech, it would not be too hard to try out. With that in mind, she spoke to the A.I on the ship.

"EDI, can you run a scenario for me?"

Travis had no idea who this EDI was and wondered if Angela was all right, but he was a bit surprised when a female sounding voice came from the ceiling.

"Of course Commander Shepard, what would you like me to test for you?"

"Is it possible to modify Travis's guns that use bullets to be made compatible with the current Mass Accelerator technology for small arms?"

"I see, give me a moment to do the calculations."

Travis turned to face his companions in the room and spoke out.

"Who was that?"

Jacob replied to that with a slight smirk.

"Who you heard was our ship's onboard A.I EDI."

Travis raised an eyebrow at that and replied.

"An A.I on this shuip and has a female voice huh? Cool, we have back in the Mojave, but only in certain places since they usually are pretty darn expensive to maintain and upgrade if one found the personality matrices and the parts. Building new ones is only possible in facilities where the resources, know how, and equipment can be found. Anyway, where am I supposed to be bunking down?"

Miranda answered that.

"I'll see if we can find you a place to stay on the Normandy and also store your gear Mr. Marlowe. In the meantime, we can wait for EDI to come up with the data and also we might need to look at the armor you were wearing before."

Travis did not have to wait long before EDI came back and spoke.

"It is possible to reconfigure Mr. Marlowe's chemical propellant using weapons to fire mass accelerator rounds Commander Shepard. However the weapons will have to be redesigned and changed in order to adapt the new technology, and there is the fact that they can no longer be able to fold for storage as regular small arms can be due to being already constructed the way they are. However due to factors pertaining to construction and size, we may only take a number of Mr. Marlowe's weapons for changes while doing it to the others might inadvertently damage them."

"I would also recommend that we have Professor Mordin Solus in the Lab to also find other means to develop the changes in the weapons faster, plus the technology that can be gleamed from Mr. Marlowe's energy weapons may prove valuable in fighting the Collectors. Also, I would like to suggest that we might need to outfit Mr. Marlowe's Power Armor with Kinetic Barriers in order to increase the chances of mission success as well as survivability, though the success of it is only possible if Mr. Marlowe is willing to allow access to his Power Armor for the required procedures in order to install the Kinetic Barriers."

…

That sounded like a good idea to Travis and he replied.

"That sounds promising, but what are Kinetic Barriers anyway?"

Jacob spoke to that question.

"Kinetic Barriers or more known to us grunts as Shields are specially made barriers of energy manipulated an element, which we call E-zero, the shields can deflect incoming mass accelerator slugs and provide good protection in most conditions but not inhibit a user from either sitting or doing regular motions."

Travis was impressed and made that clear.

"Wait a second here, are you guys telling me you have actual force fields for protection on your armor? That's pretty damn impressive, I mean I've seen some force field doors in the Big Empty and it took me retrieving a special upgrade to a Sonic Emitter to shut them down, any other weapon short of a Fatman Mini Nuke couldn't even drain them. But I've never heard of anyone developing Force Field tech mobile human sized objects before. Makes me wonder why I never asked Dala and the rest of the Think Tank to try installing Fore Field Emitters on my Armor."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at that and spoke.

"There was Force Field Technology in your reality, how strong was it?"

"Pretty strong, short of a nuclear weapon or a special upgrade made to deactivate shields, nothing could break through one of those barrier doors. I should know, I unloaded a large portion of my weapons on one just for the sake of experimentation and not even a flicker until I realized that there was no way around it and I needed that upgrade. But like I said, no one there ever thought of installing those emitters into Power Armor, why I never know, but the complexity of it might have been too much."

"Hmmm…that's interesting to note, anyway, we should get you settled in Mr. Marlowe, once we've got you settled in, I suggest you leave behind all your bullet using weapons under lock up and come to the Armory for Jacob to issue you a set of weapons that you can get familiar with, plus drop off your Power Armor so we can see if we can install those Kinetic Barriers in them."

Travis then recalled the time he had battled with the slavers back on New Alaska and wondered about something.

"Hold up, if this Kinetic Barrier stuff is standard issue for the military and any other self respecting armed force in your reality, how come those slavers didn't have any on their armor? I fought them and I didn't encounter anything resembling a shield."

Jacob replied.

"Some outfits here in the galaxy don't always have the luxury of loading Kinetic Barriers into their forces, and it takes a good deal of funding to equip a force with Kinetic Barriers. That's why not everyone in the Terminus Systems has the access to Kinetic Barriers for their forces though that does not stop them from trying. There's usually the Tech Armor system to counter that, doesn't have the same overlapping effect as traditional shields, but is harder and more durable plus being focused on some vulnerable spots."

"Okay…guess that means I was lucky that I decided to shoot them in the head and had energy weapons then. Anyway I think it's time I get to my place and unload the gear I carry, I'll drop by with the Power Armor and anything else that I feel might be of use."

Angela nodded and then replied.

"All right, once you drop off your gear, feel free to get a weapon from Jacob and I'll get you to the firing range. Better to get the hang on the new weapons you will be working with, plus I can get to see how well you can shoot."

"Yes Ma'am."

…

Later…

Travis whistled once more as he looked at the whole corridor to where Miranda was taking him, namely to his room. His reactions were to be expected as being in an actual space ship moving in space was something that he had not thought of experiencing any time soon. That and the fact that he was in the company of very interesting…and good looking women certainly added to the mix. Sure she was a bit stiff, formal and something of an ice queen, but Miranda Lawson was very well build and had one hell of a rack to go with the gorgeous body and looks.

It seemed Miranda was aware of the way Travis was staring at her backside and replied.

"You know that by all rights you are asking for trouble if you keep staring at my backside right?"

"I suppose that's true, but there's no crime in admiring the female form now is there? Besides, the rest of you is just as pleasing to the eye. Bet a lot of guys around here have a hard time keeping eyes up front."

Miranda sighed a bit and kept on moving but not before speaking.

"They know better since I have something of a reputation here."

"Nothing bad I hope."

Miranda snorted and replied.

"Hardly, I am one of the top agents in Cerberus and help our leader the Illusive Man on a number of projects that play a key role in. I am usually called the Ice Queen but I don't let that bother me since I have to focus on the orders given to me. Anyway, I don't really have a lot of time for such things the way they are. The Collectors and their Reaper Masters are a serious threat to the entire galaxy so the last thing I have on my mind is to be interested in men regardless of how they look. And before you ask, no I don't swing that way since I do happen to find men to be nice, namely the ones I feel are worth the respect. I just need to get all my priorities straight and that right now is how to prepare for the Collectors."

Travis laughed a bit at than and as soon as they were arriving at the room he was going to be assigned in, he decided to speak.

"I can understand that, plenty of time for that stuff later. Anyway, can I ask some questions?"

Miranda thought it over and decided to humor Travis.

"All right, what do you want to know?"

"What exactly is Cerberus, from your perspective Miss Lawson?"

Miranda was a bit surprised by that and made it clear as they arrived at the room in question as she turned and looked at Travis warily.

"What do you mean from my perspective?"

"Just that, I read in the Codex that Cerberus is considered a xenophobic paramilitary terrorist organization, and just about everyone from one end of the galaxy to next dislikes you. And I'll admit that some of the documents I read about you don't exactly give good accounts of your group in the first place. But I happen to be fairly open minded, since even if I hated the Legion and did everything I could to screw up their plans to high heaven, I listened to Joshua Graham who used to be their top military commander and one of their founders. So I prefer to hear both sides of the story before I make any judgments."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm not from anywhere in this galaxy so I can't go around and just assume things. Sure the governments in this world call you terrorists and they do have some evidence to back it up, but I prefer to judge for myself when I get all the facts right. Take the case of the Khans as well back in my Earth, they were raiders, drug makers, and the like. Not all of them were also innocent since there had been those in their group who shot at women and children in their raids. But they were also trying to survive and endure like everyone else, and they are actually good people when you get to know them, despite being raiders in a sense. I want to know what Cerberus is not just from those who oppose them, but also those who work with them or are part of them. And since you're one of the top agents, if not the current top agent, you have a more informed nature so that's why I am asking."

Travis grinned once more and replied.

"Besides, I doubt that there is something wrong in asking an attractive lady like you honest questions that naturally are to be expected right?"

Miranda shook her head a bit and decided to tell Travis all she could, without revealing too much of Cerberus' secrets. Naturally Travis asked some of his own and these questions were fair and straight to the point. Who supported Cerberus, it's goals, their current status, that sort of thing. He was not reacting in the way she expected from other people, namely those in the Alliance, but that was possibly due to the fact that he was not from this galaxy at all to begin with. As soon as it was over, he spoke to her in a very calm manner.

"Don't you sometimes ask yourself if the actions Cerberus takes is the right path to defend humanity? Some of the things I read about and you told me don't exactly make me feel very positive about them."

"I suppose that is true, but you should know that there is always moments that people have to make a cruel decision for the greater good. It's not pretty, and it's certainly not something one can easily forget or live with, but it is at times needed."

"Because, in the end, everyone in Cerberus believes that history will vindicate them, and that is why you are willing to do what you have to. I can't say I have never done something in the same sense, but I recall an important saying in some books I read. 'History is usually written by the victors'. I am not all that sure either about this leader of yours, one man having that much power over an organization like yours is more than a bit worrying. That and the fact that you guys have committed some less than ethical experiments, though not at the same level as the ones I have seen in my world. "

"True, but the mission is still understandable, and at leas the Illusive Man is up front about him not being a saint but his focus on the task is still there and Humanity could not have found a better advocate, even if there are those who feel that his direction is hardly good.. Anyway, we'll just have to focus on the task at hand. I'll have some of the personnel furbish you a bunk, mattresses, and pillows, plus some basic furniture, but don't be surprised if it takes a while."

Travis nodded and entered the room, it was fairly large and not too bad, the lack of anything comforting was a bit hard on the senses, but not too much. He decided to just focus on getting his gear ready for the missions he was about to be part of. He began to unload all of his guns and place them in a location within easy reach. He made sure to retain only his energy weapons and explosives, along with only some of his Melee weapons, namely his Katana, a Ripper, and also his set of Clean Cosmic Knives.

As soon as he did so, he also made sure to remove his sets of Armor as he decided that he would have to use only his Power Armor for now. The other sets of Armor were going to be placed aside for the time being as he will find an alternative solution to them later. Once he had his gear in order, he headed off to the Armory.

…

Armory…

Jacob ran through the specs of his current weapons as Travis came in but he noted that there was a sudden…increase in the way the man walked and turned. His eyes widened a bit as Travis was now decked out in his Remnants Power Armor, or as he later learned from Arcade, the Advanced Power Armor once called standard issue by the Enclave. The Armory chief of the Normandy could not help but whistle at the rather intimidating look of the armor since it made Travis look like a black armored devil from Hell's backyard.

"What is that on you?"

Travis laughed a bit and quickly switched to his US Army Combat Armor as he revealed the Power Armor from before.

"That was the Remnants Power Armor, I have only two of those and they were gifts from the group my old friend in the Followers, Arcade Gannon ran with alongside his father and mother. The other name for this is Advanced Power Armor and I have to say that unlike the one you guys saw me wear in those videos which is called the T-51, this is a lot stronger and better. The first set I got was from a place that was filled with Death Claws, the helmet was in a cave filled with Czadores. And the second set was a gift from their pilot Daisy since she could not move well in the cockpit with it on. This was supposed to be the standard armor used by the Enclave, remains of the Old World Government of the US, but they were hardly saints since they did some pretty horrible things before they got wiped out."

Jacob was a bit curious about that as the armor was certain interesting and if it's supposed to be the advanced version, then the Enclave was pretty good in tech, at least in Travis's reality.

"Your friend ever told you how they got wiped out?"

"Not really, never did get the gist of it, but he and some of the Remnants said that their main HQ on some old Oil Rig out in the middle of some big lake called the Pacific got blown to kingdom come along with all of their leaders and some of their best weapons, tech, and fellow soldiers. And afterwards, they got hit by the NCR just as the NCR was expanding months or years later. Arcade's old man and the rest of his unit fled and made it to the Mojave and settled down to avoid being hunted, though I did convince them to aid the NCR in that second battle."

"The only other group I know of that can possibly maintain and use Power Armor is the Brotherhood of Steel. Only way to use this and any other Power Armor like it is to have special training since I got the training from the Brotherhood after helping them out some. Anyway, these things are powered by a nuclear reactor system so these were built to last so I hope that there's enough juice in them to run those Kinetic Barriers you seem to want to install."

"Run by a human sized portable nuclear reactor you say? I think we can do that and have plenty of power to spare, you should know that the idea of portable nuclear reactors that are in human size is unheard of here right?"

Travis looked at Jacob and replied.

"You're shitting me right? You guys don't have that?"

"Hah! I wish, you should know that while we do use nuclear reactors, they usually are pretty big ones and used only on ships, space stations, colonies, and more. No one in either the Alliance R&D department, independent science communities, and even in Cerberus has come up with the idea of portable nuclear reactors, let alone to the size this thing might be packing. You've got yourself a once in a life time piece of gear here, now let's take a look at this more. EDI, can you begin scanning?"

It took at least an hour or so as the A.I, Travis and Jacob ran through all the data that the A.I gathered pertaining to the suit. And once that was done, Travis also took out the other Advanced Power Armor, the Gannon Family Tesla Armor, the T-51, and the T-45 Power Armors. Jacob had to admit that the Power Armors were pretty interesting, the built in cooling systems for comfort, the ability to process human waste into drinking water to ensure survivability for the user, a lock up mechanism for the joints to keep a person upright should the user be unconscious, sleeping, or needing medical assistance, and more besides. Plus the strong and specially made alloys, improved systems, motor joints, and more, this series of suits would indeed be useful.

The power supply systems were more than able to handle the installation of the Kinetic Barriers, along with retrofits to allow it for zero-g operations, and give them magnetic/gravity soles for the boots to allow it to stick on the surface of either ships or station plating or on low gravity worlds. EDI also pointed out the need to have the armor also vacuum sealed for zero-g operations and against any contaminants, viruses and the like. Overall, with some upgrades to further support the systems, the new Power Armor would be critical for the missions.

It was going to be at least a few more days before the first set could be ready for field testing, but first signs were good and it was here that Shepard arrived to the Armory. She saw the way all three beings were working on the various suits of Power Armor and spoke to Travis.

"These armored suits happen to be yours?"

"Yep, anyway, we're not fully done yet with the upgrades though Jacob said he can pull out some resources and credits for the upgrades."

"Good, now then let's get you up to speed with the weapons."

Jacob nodded and decided to get some of the weapons they had in their inventory.

…

In the cockpit…

Joker had managed to do what he was best at apart from flying and that was keeping his ears on the ground. Even though he was stuck on the chair all the time, he was the kind of guy who kept himself appraised of just about everything. And he naturally had managed to get some of the conversation that happened in the Comm. Room and he was also shaking his head at the news. He said nothing for a while and decided to wait and see just what else was going to happen.

Still, he had to wonder just what to think on the man they had gotten on this trip and hoped that he was not going to be dead weight or useless. But despite that train of thought, he had to admit that the chance to have someone with that level of experience in their group would be helpful, plus the tech, no matter how oddball looking might be good enough to help them give the Collectors a long overdue beating for the crap they had heaped on them two years ago. Still, he hoped to finally meet this guy and find out just what and who he was, so he could figure out if this guy was the genuine article and not some clone of his friend Kaidan.

…

In the Normandy's firing range…

The firing range on the Normandy was quite helpful in keeping the crew up to edge. Even with a security detail onboard for any possible attack, it was still a serious necessity for all crew members to have some proficiency with weapons, and to keep their skilled razor sharp for battle. It helped that a vast majority of the Normandy's crew were formally part of the Alliance. But right now one of them was not in any way part of the crew, either the new one or the old one that were part of the original Normandy. Travis walked with Shepard with the two of them carrying M-8 Avenger Assault Rifles to get to the range.

As soon as she got there, Angela pressed the controls to get the Kinetic Barrier emitters online to serve as the targets for the day.

She spent a few hours getting Travis ready to use the weapons for the first time, and it was not a simple thing to do. Travis was unused to the weapon and not just for it's looks. The idea of a weapon that did not rely on either bullets, missiles, grenades, or power cells of any kind was all new to him. But he was quick to finally grasp the basics and soon was shooting well enough. He also learned how to load and unload a thermal clip and had to admit that it did feel like using his own guns in a sense.

The two of them soon began to shoot together and Angela was nodding approval as Travis was quickly getting the hang of the weapon in question, a lot faster than she did when she was still training in the Marines, namely in N7. Then again, considering the life he lived and world he called home, it was to be expected.

It was here that Travis decided to ask Angela the question that was on his mind.

"By the way Shepard, I have been meaning to ask this of you."

"What would that be?"

"What's your deal with Cerberus?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Travis explained what he had been suspecting when he was with her and on the Normandy before the meeting. Angela listened carefully to what Travis was saying and had to admit that he was certainly quick on the uptake and made that clear to him.

"You caught on pretty quick, I do have some less than stellar history with Cerberus, so you can imagine how shocked I was when they went out of their way to bring me back from the dead."

"Care to tell me about it?"

Angela did, starting from the time she worked for Admiral Kahoku, all the way to Banes, then to attacking Cerberus bases, killing Cerberus personnel, discovering their experiments, finding Dr Wayne, and more. By the end of it Travis was utterly stunned and also impressed as he told Shepard so after she was done.

"Now let me see if I get this all right. You essentially dismantled a number of their bases, destroy their operations, kill their scientists and military personnel, and in simple terms, made their lives a living hell two years ago while hunting this Saren. But instead of celebrating the fact that you as a thorn to their side is dead, decided to go through the trouble of getting your corpse, spend billions of credits and a LOT of time and technology to bring you back from the dead?"

"Pretty much, believe me when I say that it was totally unexpected for me. They could have formed an entire army and massive fleet with the kind of money, resources, and manpower they put into me. The Illusive Man said that an army and fleet would be nothing without someone to lead them. And besides that, making an army and a fleet would only attract attention from the Alliance and the Citadel who you can guess will not be very pleased to see Cerberus, even with me at the helm. For all I know, they might say I was a clone of the real Angela Shepard under Cerberus' thumb, or I was brainwashed into serving Cerberus or some other bullshit."

"But didn't you risk everything to save the Council? I mean I read the story, you had the Alliance come in to save the Council even if it cost ships and lives, right? You got Humanity their seat at the Council, the trust and respect of the other races…hell, you saved the galactic community for crying out loud! Shouldn't they at least trust you for all you did?"

Angela laughed a bit at that in a less than jovial tone and replied.

"I wish, they're politicians and they are just too afraid, afraid to admit that the Reapers are real, and they are coming. They said the same thing and thought I was shell shocked or stressed to breaking point two years ago. I was outraged at what they said when I told them what I knew, so yeah I have my issues. But at least they are willing to let me regain my Spectre status, not much, but at least I don't have to worry about stepping on anyone with clout to get their ears and make my life complicated. And maybe I think they had some reason, the entire galaxy's still a mess from the attack so causing undue panic MIGHT be a bad move. Even if I personally feel that the Citadel and the Alliance need a good kick in the ass to get moving."

Travis snorted at that and replied.

"If you ask me, those Citadel and Alliance fellows need to learn a thing or two about loyalty and trust, I did good turns for the NCR, the Khans, and the Brotherhood, and they come without fail to save my sorry ass from the fire. I might be the meanest ass kicking hero in the Wasteland, but I owe the NCR Rangers, NCR Heavy Troopers, Brotherhood Paladins, and the Khans more times than I care to count when the shit hit the fan."

"Yeah, I heard the stories from you after all, makes me wish I had guys and gals like them watching my six. Point is though, I have to be practical, I might hate Cerberus, but right now as it stands, they have the means, credits, resources, and manpower I need to stop the Collectors and the Reapers if they are working together. Plus the fact that Cerberus is willing to go ahead regardless of what others say is a bonus to the whole thing."

."Both Jacob and Miranda have got their skills and talents, Jacob's all right since he's former Alliance and is honest about his stance, as long as Cerberus and the illusive Man walk the walk and talk the talk as he said it, he'll fight for them even if he is very wary of working with a group like them. And Miranda, despite the cold and serious attitude, has the talents and skills I know are going to be very helpful, plus despite how she acts, I can tell that she's not xenophobic and is someone who can be counted upon to do what is needed."

Travis nodded a bit to that and replied.

"Well, either way, we're going to be fighting these Collectors so I guess I am happy at least I know who the people I am working with are, and that's a start as far as I am concerned in light of current circumstances."

…

It was only a few days later that The Normandy finally arrived at Omega and it was here also that Jacob reported that he had completed the needed upgrades on Travis' Power Armor. The Kinetic Barrier generators installed were running well enough and EDI had managed to scan enough of the Power Armors' internal systems and servos to be able to create spare parts and components for repairs and maintenance. This meant that Travis no longer had to worry about having to find suits of Power Armor that were too ruined to be used to break apart for spare parts and serviceable materials. And since he carried a LARGE amount of Micro-fusion Cells, Small Energy Cells, and Electron Charge Packs of their different varieties, he was more than ready to go.

He commented that EDI would have been great friends with his Eyebot partner who's own name rhymed with EDI. ED-E as he called the plucky little robot would have loved chatting in computer code with EDI and he did miss the little floating robot. That was enough to make things easier as Travis decided to take a good stock of Thermal Clips for his new weapons as his Guns were in his room and stored away so he had plenty of weight removed from him.

He packed an M-8 Avenger, a Predator Heavy Pistol, and a Shuriken Machine Pistol to use with his Thermal Clips, that and the fact he could serve as an ammunition mule for the others. Since his Pip Boy carried a LOT of items due to the technology it had, he could easily help keep the others supplied on the move and take any Thermal Clips they find for storage and distribution in the field. The only weapons he carried from his world were his fully upgraded Laser Rifle, the upgraded Laser RCW, his GRA Laser Pistol, the GRA Plasma Defender, his upgrade Gatling Laser, the Gauss Rifle, the Pulse Gun, a fully armed and charged Tesla Cannon his GRA Tri Beam Laser Rifle, a Multiphase Rifle, and the Q-35 Matter Modulator in the category of Energy Weapons. For Melee, was his Katana, the Ripper and the Clean Cosmic Knives, and lastly a good stock of his GRA made MFC Grenades, some of his Pulse, Plasma, Frag, Flash, and Incendiary Grenades.

He decided to use his Enclave Remnants Power Armor and the Gannon Family Tesla Armor for this excursion while keeping the other sets of Power Armor ready for combat usage. No sense not having some backups on the off chance he needed some extra power and protection. With that set, he waited near the airlock as Shepard appeared once more in her N7 Armor with some modifications while Miranda and Jacob appeared in their own sets of Armor.

…

Omega…

As soon as they got there, the four humans were accosted by a Salarian who was soon sent away by a less than friendly Batarian and told to go see Aria. Angela decided to play nice and agree to avoid wasting their time and supplies when it was hardly needed, and as soon as that was over, they soon entered Omega with their helmets off. And while there was no doubt that Omega was big, it had a very strong and unfriendly feel about it.

Travis took only one whiff of the odors that filled Omega and he was quick to offer his take on the dark counterpart of the Citadel which he had managed to read about, namely in the smell department as he had his helmet off.

"Fucking hell…and I thought fresh Death Claw crap stank! When was the last time these guys checked the ventilation systems on this floating rust bucket in space?"

Shepard, Jacob, and Miranda could not help but agree, Angela had only been to Omega once in her career and that was to track down a band of Terrorists, not related to Cerberus, who had managed to steal a number of important Alliance ship construction data. She had not been alone as she was with her N7 commando allies at the time, and it was only her fourth mission then as well. And when that happened, she was thankful that her Hard suit's filtration systems handled a portion of the stink, though she had to spend half the day cleaning her filters and armor afterwards since some sick nut decided to play a gag and toss out some of the waste water from the place out the window.

Miranda was quick to comment on it as she agreed to what Travis was saying.

"I can agree with you there, every time I go to this place and leave it I make sure to have two showers after the standard decontamination procedure."

Jacob nodded and was happy that he decided to get his Cerberus Assault Armor while Miranda wore her own Inferno Armor, though in their cases and Shepard's they did not have their helmets on. The stench was not terribly new to him as he had been to Omega before, though that was only for a short time.

"Same here, let's just get this going and worry about clean up later."

Travis nodded with the same expression of disgust all over his face, in all of his time, he had never smelled anything as bad as the stench coming from Omega. And that was more than enough to convince him that he should wear his helmet. He was currently wearing his Enclave Remnants Power Armor which had recently been installed one of the Kinetic Barrier generators that seemed to be the standard issue for the armor that his allies were wearing. The extra protection was something he was happy for since he was not the kind of guy to take chances in battle fields which was why he always kept his gear in tip top shape. More than once he was nearly killed by whatever enemies he made in the Mojave for having sloppy gear and lack of preparation.

"Let's head to Afterlife, since Aria happens to rule Omega as it were, she might know more about both Archangel and Mordin."

Travis spoke to Shepard about that as Jacob and Miranda now had their armor on.

"Who's first on the recruitment list Ma'am?"

"It will have to be Mordin Solus, if his credentials match, we're going to need his technical expertise to find a way to counter whatever tech the Collectors have for taking humans away. And obviously we're going to need his help for research and development of any tech we might need along with helping us upgrade the guns you happen to have."

"So Archangel's next afterwards?"

"Yep, once we get Mordin settled in the Normandy, we go get to Archangel, if he is as good as they say he is, I think he can hold out for a while longer. The fact that the three merc outfits in Omega are working together means he's not someone to take lightly. But before we do any of that, let's go see if we can't grab anything else we might need around here. Omega might be a place where anything can and will happen, but when it comes to tech and hard to find gear that's illegal, this is the place."

The three others nodded and soon moved out to get whatever they might find themselves needing and soon, after some haggling, got what they needed. These were soon sent to the Normandy with Miranda sending word to the security teams to get ready for the shipments of supplies, and equipment . Once shopping was out of the way, along with helping a Quarian in need of assistance getting off the place, they headed off to Afterlife.

…

Afterlife was pretty big and there was a long line of people with one of the biggest aliens Travis had ever seen, the good news for him was that he read up on this alien. Elcor, they were not usually the fighting kind but they were strong, tough, and very much hard to dissuade when they got their minds on something. Reminded him of the Bighorners he used to run into in the Mojave but these could think, act and speak. And right now one human was arguing with him. They all ignored him and moved through the door and moved towards the entrance to Afterlife…only for three new Batarians to get in the way. The three leered at Angela and Miranda despite their armor and sneered at Jacob, more than enough to convince Travis what they had in mind.

The leader spoke seriously to the three.

"Who the heck are you?"

Angela responded by taking out her Predator at impressive speed and soon had it right in the face of the Batarian, the others tried to move until Jacob, Miranda, and him took out their weapons. Jacob with his specially own Eviscerator Shotgun, Miranda with her own Shuriken Machine Pistol, and him with his M-8. The4 whole thing was now a standoff and Travis noted everyone else seemed relaxed and ignoring it, but he was able to see that some were reaching for weapons hidden somewhere.

"I'm the one who is going to ruin your day as well as your ability to have children in the foreseeable future if you don't get out of my way."

That was enough to convince the Batarians to leave the four in peace as Travis grinned a bit at Angela and as soon as they were over, they placed their weapons aside and entered the place. As soon as they were in the place, Travis was quick to look everything over, thankfully his hearing was strong enough to handle the overly loud music and the lights were dimmed a bit by his helmet's visors.

One thing was certain in the young Courier's mind, this place was a real high tech version of Gomorrah. The only difference was that instead of just human and Ghoul dancers, there were mostly Asari dancers in the areas all over the place. The fact that the Asari can reproduce with all races either male or female kind of freaked him a bit, but the looks they had and the form made that all the more understandable in his mind.

The smell of the place was a mix of sweat of various species, alcohol of unknown origins, food of unknown origins, and whatnot. He could also pick up the faint smell of sex in the air, and the sights of coupling bodies in corners were more than enough to convince him that his more than well trained nose was not lying. But this was not enough to convince him to lower his guard, just because all of the people here were having fun getting laid, drunk, pumped full of whatever drugs might be floating about, and fed, did not mean that they were unable to fight.

They moved on and Travis could spot an Asari dressed in one heck of an outfit of white and black from a distance looking at them. He was willing to wager a guess that the Asari was Aria since the woman looked at him and the group like a Death Claw Mother watching it's blood thirsty brood. And he was willing to bet all his still present caps that she was not some simple crime boss. Anyone who could control this place deserves respect. So apart from looking at them like a Death Claw, this Asari was like Colonel Moore, though in Asari form.

As they arrived to face the woman, they were stopped by the guards and he merely stood there to see just how this was going to play out. This was Shepard's show but he was going to keep his weapons at the ready if anything went down shit creek. And it did when the guards decided to scan him and the alarms that came afterwards.

The guards leveled their weapons at him and that made Angela and the others react and soon the team found itself in a situation that his snarky but trusted friend, the Ghoul 'Ghost Vaquero' Raul called a Mexican standoff. He had no idea why it was named as such, but he was beginning to feel that it was very appropriate. One of the guards snarled a bit and spoke once more while aiming his pistol to the side of his head.

"Show the weapons human."

Travis turned and sarcastically replied.

"You see any weapons on me yet?"

"I'm not here to play games! Show them to us right now or else!"

Travis decided to smirk a bit in his helmet and replied.

"Are you sure you want that? The stuff I'm packing might make this place a bit too cluttered, plus, there's distinct possibility that I might be packing a live nuke in my pants, and no, that is not a joke with less than pure meaning in it. You SURE you want me to reveal that?"

That made the whole situation tense until Angela sighed a bit and spoke.

"Warbringer, we don't have time for this. Let them see the guns and whatnot so we can get on with the mission at hand."

"All right ma'am, now this is the part where I ask everyone to stand back then, I need some room."

The guards and Aria looked on and were surprised to suddenly see the myriad weapons that Travis finally pulled out from what seemed to be thin air. Soon the floor was filled with a fairly large pile of weapons and Travis grinned a bit as he looked at the guard who moments ago had his gun to his head. The Turian was surprised at the weapons and Travis decided to play a gag on him and pulled out a Mini-nuke and spoke in a mock shocked tone.

"Oh look, I WAS carrying a live nuke in my pants."

The Turian just about pissed himself and so did everyone else and even the team he was with were caught off guard as they all saw the nuclear symbol on the thing. That was enough to tell Travis that regardless of race, everyone knew what the nuclear symbol was. This went on until Travis laughed and replied.

"Ease up mates, the weapon is not live, the only way that this goes boom is if I launch it out of the appropriate launcher or one of you decided to shoot me and I activate the detonation system. Anyway, I hope that satisfies everyone, as well as the lady in question. And for you, I hope you didn't piss in your armor, which would be just nasty not to mention freaking embarrassing."

Travis then placed aside his little toy and then took up his gear, leaving the place pristine once more…pristine being relative in Omega. It took some creative talking but soon they were able to learn that Mordin had a clinic deep in the Quarantine Zone, trying to sure those of the plague. It was obvious to Travis and the others that Aria did respect the former STG member though not his action of talking at high speed. The Asari then directed her attention to him of all people and spoke.

"You're friend here caused quite the ruckus Shepard, what exactly is he?"

"Travis is human, but he's not exactly from around here."

"I can see that, the armor and firepower certainly don't look like anything found either in that pussy spot the Citadel and here in the Terminus Systems. And the name Warbringer seems to fit him. Where the fuck did you get that much firepower?"

Travis grinned and replied.

"Sorry Miss T'Loak, but I'm not revealing all my secrets in one go, even if you asked nicely, though I doubt a lady of your standing in a place like this is in the practice of asking."

Aria merely shrugged though she did gave him an amused look and replied.

"Hm, trying to be charming, well then, let's see the face, at least that way I can tell you are actually human."

Travis saw now harm in that and removed his Remnants Power Helmet and then showed his face. Aria and the other Asari dancers looked at him carefully and he wondered just what was going on in their heads. The Queen of Omega finally spoke to him in a curious tone.

"You look young for someone who carries the aura of a battle scarred veteran, how old are you?"

Travis gave a thoughtful look and then recounted his last birthday though that was a LONG time ago. He did the quick math and replied.

"Last I recall, I had my eighteenth birthday at least a year ago so I'd say I'm probably nineteen and five months old now. I am in the legal age for just about anything I guess if that's what's cooking in the brain right now. Why are you asking Miss Aria?"

Aria merely gave him a smirk and then spoke.

"Just curious, though I am a bit surprised that you are that age, you must have gotten some really good genes if you look like that in your current age. You sure pick them nice looking Shepard; you ever got him in bed yet?"

If that was to try and get Shepard flustered, it did not since she remained calm and focused as she replied.

"No, now I have to go to work."

Aria curtly nodded and replied.

"Go ahead and see if you can get Mordin to help, but try not to bring the plague back with you."

As the group moved out, Aria then spoke again, only this time her attention was directed on Travis as he now placed his helmet back on.

"Oh and Travis, if you decide to come back for a break, I'll see that you get some company, free of charge."

…

Outside…

Angela shook her head and moved out as Travis was still deep in thought inside of his helmet as he then spoke to the others.

"Now that was pretty tempting, but I think I'll pass for the moment. I doubt spending Cerberus funds on strip bars, drinks, food, and girls human or otherwise is in the menu. Might be one hell of a way to raise morale though."

Jacob chuckled at that while Miranda merely rolled her eyes.

The four moved to where the quarantine zone was and it was fairly obvious that no one was happy with the whole thing. There was an armed Turian arguing with an obviously unarmed human woman and while news reports were being broadcast around them, something about the Turian Hierarchy and the Systems Alliance becoming more involved partners in galactic patrol duties and such, Travis and the others focused on the arguing pair.

"The entire place is under quarantine lady! So stop wasting my damn time!"

"I live here you damn ass! I have to go in there before all my stuff is gone!"

"In case your forget lady, the Blue Suns and the Blood Pack are tearing through the place, I think you'd be more concerned for them AND the plague that whatever stuff you own!"

"The two are fighting each other and humans can't get the plague!"

"That plague's already killing all other species! No one here is taking any chances, and I am doing you a favor lady! Just about everyone here thinks you humans made the plague and that alone is more than enough reason for either Blue Suns or the Blood Pack to shoot you on sight! And that also includes the neighbors you have since we just heard that some humans have been seen looting the place!"

"So the entire area is on lockdown?"

The Turian turned to face Angela and replied in a more relaxed and relieved tone.

"Finally, a Human who actually listens to reason, yeah the plague's the reason this entire place is on lock down."

"Can you tell us exactly what the plague is?"

"Starts out with a fever, then you start coughing blood, and then I shoot you to prevent it from spreading. At first it was thought to be just a passing sickness, but after the first dozen cases came in, we all knew something was up. The fact it affects all species except the Vorcha and the humans in the station made locking down this place and keeping it from spreading anywhere else."

"Affects all species? That's pretty potent a plague, Turians and Salarians don't eat the same food."

"Exactly, which is why there's talk of it being bio-engineered, and the fact humans are immune to it apart from the Vorcha has got every other being here up in arms."

All the while through the exchange, Travis merely paid attention as he began to recall the Codex on the new creatures known as the Vorcha, and then he focused the differences in genetics between the races. He learned that the Turians and Quarians were considered dextro-acid beings while humans, Asari and most of the other races were levo-acid beings. So whatever a levo-acid being would eat as food would either pass through without giving nutrients to the dextro-acid eater or give the eater in question a seriously bad or near fatal allergic reaction, and vice versa as well. That was pretty interesting and something to put away for future use as he decided to take out his M-8 as he knew that they were soon going to be in the battle zone.

Angela then spoke to the Turian about Mordin and the male alien explained a bit more about the scientist and where he was located. The Spectre then spoke to the Turian about going in there to help Mordin cure the plague and since her team were all well armed and wearing sealed suits, then they were going to be all right. The Turian gave the four man team the once over and saw that they were all armed and nodded.

"I'll radio in to the guards not to shoot you all when you come in, I'd wish you all luck, but keep in mind that until we get word the plague is gone, then you all are not coming back."

Naturally the woman who had been arguing with the Turian earlier was rather livid at that.

"What the hell? You're keeping me out of my own home while you let them in? You son of a bitch!"

"In case you're blind as well as deaf lady, you're not carrying a grenade launcher or a rifle, and you're certainly not wearing any armor either! So get lost and stop wasting my time!"

Angela turned to the three in her squad and spoke.

"All right, we're going in to get to Mordin and see if we can not only give the cure to the rest of the people here, but get him to help us with the Collectors and find a way to counter whatever tech they are using to take the people from the colonies. But let's make sure to avoid shooting non hostiles in the area, human or otherwise so watch what you shoot."

Miranda nodded but decided to add in her input.

"That's a good idea, but we should still be wary, if what we heard about humans being immune to the plague is correct, there's going to be a lot of itchy trigger fingers in there Commander. We're human after all so there's a chance the non human residents might mistake us for the ones responsible for the plague."

"I know Miranda, but we're going to do this the right way, take out the ones who shoot us first and try to reason with the ones who don't. That way we can save up on our supplies. Travis, you're the one packing the most in terms of thermal clips among us, so be ready to distribute the load just in case we run dry."

Travis nodded.

"Got it Commander, I'll layer them will the rest of my weapons when I can."

"Good, let's do this people."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, this one is the latest chapter and we are going after Mordin first, even if I did play the game, I decided to have the gang get Mordin to start getting the tech cranked out early, plus learn how to use the full arsenal of energy weapons Travis has, as well as how to upgrade the weapons that use bullets to instead fire Mass Accelerator slugs. Originally I went after Archnagel in my previous walkthrough since I was hoping to have another sniper in my team apart from Shepard, and finding out it was Garrus, my old Turian buddy was a bonus.

But here, we need the tech and having Mordin fiddle with the inner workings of the energy weapons that Travis brought along is going to be worth it.

Now in light of some matters I had to deal with, I had to put this story on the back burner and now that I got back to it, I hope this new chapter will show that this is hardly dead. This is the right time for me to explain what happened in this chapter that might have been lost in transit somewhere.

…

First is the subject of the bullet using arsenal of Travis, unlike the story Wildcard, I am not going to have him use those guns as they are, which should be obvious since I plan to have them upgraded to use Mass Accelerator tech, or have the crew of the Normandy study the technology of the Gauss Rifle and have it reconfigured into the weapons. The magazines and clips for example will no longer carry ammunition, but will be converted into thermal clips of obviously various shapes and sizes.

The guns would also be given some overall changes in appearance to make up for the change in functions and ammunition type, as well as increasing a bit in size to make up for the changes, so until they are done, Travis will be using ME weapons. The new guns will however not be able to fold since their previous design would not allow that.

But some weapons will not be changed due to their size and overall design so they will remain as is, they can still be seen as functional, old fashioned but functional and Travis will use them mostly as mementos of his past exploits and train with them to keep his edge up.

The guns that will remain as they are will obviously be the 9mm Pistols along with the Maria, the .45 Pistols and A Light Shining in the Darkness, the 10mm Pistols, the 10mm SMGs, .375 Magnums and the Lucky, along with the .44 Magnum Revolvers, the Hunting Revolvers, and Ranger s' revolvers. This list is also going to include the Hunting Shotgun/Dinner bell, the Lever Action Shotguns, the Varmint Rifles along with the Ratslayer, and the Hunting Rifle.

This is something that I had planned for a while now when I created this story, so I hope that this is good enough for the readers. The complaints of a certain member of the website (you know who you are) annoyed me since for one, I stated clearly that this story was only in the infancy stages so I have yet to reveal what I had in mind.

Why he jumped to the idea that I am following the plan of another author's story is something that I will never figure out. Plus how else would I be able to explain how he gets his weapons and armor out of inventory?

Anyway, this means that all the other guns not mentioned will be the ones to be modified to use Mass Accelerator technology and what the results will be is going to be rather fun to watch. I can imagine carrying the LMG and the Mini-gun plus the other heavy guns will really be fun to see.

…

Second is obviously the upgrades to the Power Armors, let's face it, they will have to Travis default armor until I can upgrade the others. Do NOT expect me to have Travis wearing Leather Armor/Reinforced Leather Armor unless it's just for comfort and looks. The Saturnite Alloy plating I gave the Power Armor is a good upgrade, but due to my personal playing experiences in ME 1 and 2 I prefer to have all the assets I can get. Let me point out that in the Fallout Lore, Power Armor was originally used to fight battles in areas where firepower and protection were key and give soldiers those two assets in spades, but these were never meant to be used in space warfare so the upgrades were a must to turn them into combat class space suits.

The inclusion of Kinetic Barriers was to me a need since the changing battle field conditions would require Travis to up the ante when it comes to his enemies. The enemies he fought with before were caught off guard and his Saturnite Alloy plate did counter the Mass Accelerator slugs, but no sense not getting all the edges he can get and even more so since he will be facing tougher and more powerful foes when the time comes.

I COULD have instead had the Think Tank install Force Field Emitter systems on the Armor, weaker than the ones used in the Big Empty, but stronger than Kinetic Barriers since they can counter energy based weapons better. But I decided not to since that would have been cheating and therefore, I went for the Kinetic Barriers since I did have a liking for them and believe me when I say that it did my heart good in my playing experience to have top of the line shields in my squad in the first and second games.

As for the other armors, I will find ways to make them just as useful in the future since they have been upgraded and can be made better in this world. Some however will remain as they are since I think updating them is too impractical. Having Travis wearing Leather Armor or Reinforced Leather Armor on the Normandy on his downtime sounds promising, along the Gecko backed ones, which I am sad to say I forgot to add since I had forgotten to make some in my game..

…

And third, I plan to have the weapons in Travis's arsenal that use energy will soon be used in larger amounts though naturally these weapons will be scanned by EDI and soon can be made in larger numbers once Mordin cracks their function and purpose when he is in the Normandy's Lab. Don't expect the whole gang to start suddenly carrying energy weapons right off the bat since it still will be Travis who uses them the most.

Only after some time will I have them start using energy weapons and have Travis train them on how to use them more effectively.

Mordin will also begin to study some of the other devices in Travis' arsenal and so will Jacob, all of which can be a valued asset in fighting the Collectors and Reapers in the long run. So despite the Buck Rogers looks of some of the weapons, as was pointed out by the origins of Fallout's universe, and the technology, they will find their use in the battle field to come.

…

As for the subject of possible lemons…I'm still not all that sure yet so feel free to send me suggestions and ideas. Travis is by no means a virgin so he's got the goods and the moxy when it counts, only question is who I pair him with, or do I go…you what I mean already so why bother saying it?

…

And just so we're clear despite Travis' levels in Fallout New Vegas, he is NOT invincible, since in my personal playing experience, I have come close to dying MORE than once. So despite all the perks I had in him, I have to stock up on some serious piles of medical supplies, LOTS of freaking bullets, energy cells and explosives, heavy armor, and a LOT of luck.

When I made my ME 1 Game with my custom made Commander Shepard at level 60, I thought it could be carried to ME2. I was flabbergasted when he turned back to level 1! So I have to work again on how to bring my Shepard back to ass kicking potential. Same goes for Travis, his perks might give him an advantage in the Fallout world, but that hardly means he is a Gary Stu here in this universe and he will be injured and bleeding in the coming chapters. This story IS now set in the Mass Effect universe so don't think he will be ass kicking like before, he will get there soon enough.

Anyway, I am happy that I can now go back to my other non Halo stories so feel free to drop a line to tell me how this looks to you readers.

…

Bye!


	4. Chapter 4

Mass Effect: Warbringer…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mass Effect or Fallout New Vegas

Chapter 2

Part 2

Clinical Chaos…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Quarantine zone…

As soon as they got into the area, they were directed by the guards to move in to the deeper sections of the quarantine zone, and already the scenes of combat were all over the place. Bodies were also nearby and were apparently being burned, no doubt the people tried cremation to destroy the plague, and the fact the bodies were still piling up said that it was not working the way they hoped.

Travis commented on the sight.

"Now that is just nasty…thank you for sealed suits since I don't even want to guess how bad the smell is right now."

Jacob agreed with the Courier as he spoke as well.

"I second that, but the fact that cremation isn't working plus what we learned about it crossing species tells me this plague is not natural which means the guard's right on the money on it being bio-engineered."

.Miranda and Angela agreed as they continued to move, they soon encountered a dying Batarian who despite aiming his weapon at her face was saved by Angela. The Batarian was caught by surprise by that and decided to answer a number of Angela's questions and eventually learned Mordin's location as well as him finding a cure for the plague. Angela promised him that as soon as the way was clear, she would ask some of Mordin's people to find him. The Batarian nodded and they moved on.

Travis had no doubt that company was coming and he could see the same feeling in Shepard and the others, and soon they were spotting Blue Suns and soon were trading weapons fire with them. Travis already read up on the data pertaining to the group and knew that they were not going to be too keen on seeing them. As soon as they fought their way past the first batch of Blue Suns, Travis was quick to use both his Machine Pistol and the Predator when another band showed up to make their lives difficult.

He fired several supporting slugs at the first pair, cutting down one and forcing the other to hit the deck, to which Jacob quickly fired a blast of his shotgun into the third Blue Sun behind the pair. The apparent human was cut down and as soon as the second Blue Sun merc got up, Miranda fired several bursts of her own machine pistol into the face, tearing through armor plating and then the flesh behind said helmet.

Travis was not going to remain silent of course as he quickly moved from the current weapon he had and took out his Laser RCW and unleashed a barrage of laser bolts on the next pair of Blue Suns mercenaries, that cut them down pretty damn quick as their ceramic armor plating was not rated for being hit by lasers. They might have sealed their suits, but Travis was willing to bet that they had looks of shock at suddenly being cut down by laser weapons. He still had plenty of charges left so no sense moving to reloading as Miranda moved to him and saw the weapon itself.

"Looks almost like a Thompson Sub Machine Gun."

Travis knew just what she was talking about and replied in a humorous tone.

"Yeah, all I need now is a fedora hat, a suit, and then crack my knuckles. Now that is a gangster look huh?"

Miranda shook her head while Jacob merely snickered as the team moved through the area to deal with what else might be around the corner. The fact that a vast majority of the alien Blue Suns were forced to seal up was an indication of just how bad it was becoming for the non humans in this area.

And the team could see just how it could be that anyone who was a human would become a target for anyone in the area as they had encountered a dying Batarian who tried to shoot at them as a last act of defiance, but Angela managed to stop him and help keep him alive. The alien was surprised by that action and decided to take a chance and go to Mordin even if the doctor didn't sound like any doctor Travis ever heard of. The fact he was not human might help him get past the mercs, wishful thinking but a lot better than being grim in mood and thought. Travis placed away his Laser RCW and moved back to using his Avenger Assault Rifle and reserve his energy weapons for more serious threats that was soon going to show up as they kept on moving.

And he did not have to wait for very long as more of the Blue Suns came up to attack them en masse.

…

Travis ducked as he spotted another one of those Blue Suns characters, a Turian from the looks of it tried to turn him into a target board. The newly installed Kinetic Barriers on his Enclave Remnants Power Armor flared up and he looked to see the shield meter flicker a bit as a portion of it dropped. It was not enough to compromise the shields as he got up and quickly fired several bursts from the weapon that he got loaned by Jacob.

The rounds from the loaned weapon tore into the Turian and through the armor plating and soon the alien mercenary dropped down and bleeding on the deck. The fact he or it, Travis couldn't really tell nor care for. was not moving told him hw was dead. Travis got ready to move ahead only to have two more of his running buddies show up and fire at the former Courier. The shields held long enough for him to fire a few rounds at full auto to force them to find cover and allow him to get into cover as he quickly removed the thermal clip from his gun.

He was not going to be alone for long as Miranda, Jacob and Shepard arrived, telling him that they had taken out their foes earlier. Shepard took out her Sniper Rifle and quickly aimed forward just as one of the mercs got to peak up. Only for Shepard to drill him in the head with a clean shot. Travis saw the blood splatter come out along with the fragments of ceramic armor, as well as brain matter , flesh, and bone so there was no doubt that merc was dead.

He turned to see Miranda suddenly glow with blue energy that seemed to hug her in her Inferno Armor and then out came a large ball of…something that glowed that slammed into the merc nearby who tried to get a shot out. The merc was covered in a field of glowing energy just as Jacob moved in and blasted the floating target with a blast from his Katana Shotgun. As soon as that happened, the four of them relaxed though Travis was looking at Miranda with astonishment and surprise, which was evident on his question.

"What the hell was that you nailed that guy with Miss Lawson?"

The Cerberus officer looked at Travis briefly and wondered why he was asking her that and then recalled that he was still new to the world they came from, so it stood to reason that he had not seen Biotics before. Even more so since none of the security personnel on New Alaska had Biotics in their ranks, and none of the Asari present had taken part in the fight. So naturally she decided to explain some of the things he had just seen, in order to not just teach him a bit of the world he was now in, but to help him prepare for the possibility that he might end up fighting someone with the same abilities. But not before asking him why he was not aware of it since he was given a Codex.

"I thought you read your Codex back on New Alaska?"

"I did, but at the time I was still trying to get used to being in a new reality so I did not read all of it so I'm a little bit stumped."

Miranda could understand that part at least and decided to do what she had planned to do before.

"What you saw was Biotics Travis, Biotics is the ability to manipulate dark energy due to having special nodes in your nervous system that allows one to mentally control said energy. Most races in this galaxy usually have people who are Biotics, though the most obvious would be the Asari. You only got to see some of what a Biotic can do so don't be surprised if some of our enemies happen to be Biotics too. You see someone have the same field around them as me earlier, then you have to be careful."

Travis was still surprised by what he saw as he decided to reload his M-8 and replied.

"That was some seriously cool stuff and a bit terrifying to be sure, what about you Jacob, you a Biotic too?"

The man nodded a bit at that.

"I am a Biotic and trained in the Alliance Ascension Program as well, the successor of that fracas in Jump Zero. But like anything else, not every Biotic is the same as the others like him or her, some of us can at times be weaker, or stronger than the others who have the same ability. Others can have a wider range of abilities while some focus only on others, not as flexible, but more powerful. The only way we can regulate our powers is through the Biotic Amps we have apart from training, plus we have to eat or drink a bit more than the usual, along with the need to take special medication to counter overuse of our Biotics."

Travis looked at Shepard and she shook her head.

"Nope, sorry to disappoint you Travis, I'm no Biotic, but I am a damn good soldier and a Commando to boot."

Travis smirked at that as he looked at both Miranda and Jacob as he spoke to them.

"You know, if you two showed up in the Mojave and started tossing around the bad guys like that, everyone's either going to think your gods or goddesses, angels, spirits, demons, and the like. Scare the crap out of everyone, and possibly found your own tribe or something around those lines. Not to mention get some very interesting if not too comfortable attention."

Both Jacob and Miranda shook their heads at that as the four of them continued to move around, all happy that their suits were sealed. There were a few more fire fights between them and some of the Blood Pack and Blue Sun Mercs, once the Blue Suns got killed they faced off with the Blood Pack.

Along the way through the fight, Travis had to resort to using his GRA Ripper when one of the massive guys, which he read about was a Krogan tried to smash into him like a Death claw. He jammed the Ripper into the helmet's seams and was quickly rewarded by a stream of orange blood, the Krogan backed off and he followed with a serious kick to the head and sent the creature back just as he drilled his Ripper right into the 'face' of the armored alien's helm, the teeth were chipped a bit but soon the creature was dead. But Travis decided to jam an Incendiary Grenade into the gaping holes in the armor to be sure.

The stench that came was not too pleasant but Travis ignored that to get to the rest of the foes before him as he placed aside his Ripper and took out his Plasma Defender and fired a single bolt into the face of another Vorcha coming at them. The end result was the face of the alien being reduced into a burning and stinking mess as it roared in pain and shock and collapsed dead with half it's face reduced to a pile of glowing green goo.

Jacob whistled at the sight as the plasma pistol like weapon looked a bit odd but still deadly in function. Angela smirked at the sight and Miranda nodded in interest while looking as Travis placed the weapon away.

Along the way, Shepard and the group stopped to pick up some strange looking devices on the ground, and also those terminals. He did not bother them at all and usually covered their backs from attack. Only later was he told by Shepard that she had been pilfering credits from these devices and terminals. They may be funded by Cerberus, but if they could have their own stocks of credits then it was worth it. Travis was not going to complain at all since he knew why it was needed, why else did he have to tolerate drinking warm and flat Sunset Sarsaparilla, and Nuka Cola to get to the caps back in the Mojave?

Every cap he could get was the difference maker in the economics in the Wasteland so taking credits from any source to fund this war was all right with him. Plus they did manage to stop a band of human looters trying to make a score in the middle of the mess. Not the healthiest of ideas in a place where being human got you a shot in the head in the former Courier's opinion.

Thankfully the possible fire fight was avoided and now the humans were nice enough to not do anything to allow them to go one with the rest of the mission. They also convinced a couple of humans to clear house and head for the clinic. When asked by the man how they would know if it was safe, Travis jokingly replied.

"Just follow the trail of dead mercs man."

It was afterwards that Jacob spoke to him.

"Heads up Travis, that bunch of Vorcha, Varren, and Krogan we fought with tells me we're in Blood Pack territory now so watch it."

"Got you there, so shoot the Krogan once they go down before they regenerate right?"

"Yeah, unless you shoot them again to ruin their redundant organ systems, they will just heal and come back for more. There are even some Krogan who cannot seem to just die as well since they regenerate too fast to be countered properly."

"That sounds just great. Reminds me of this pesky Glowing Ones I dealt with in the day."

The conversation was cut as they continued to move forward, there were some left over battles and more encounters with dead bodies.

Travis groaned as he and the others continued to move to where the clinic was, and already Travis now was feeling a bit tired, and he was eager to finally get back to the Normandy after this and get himself some food native to his own universe. Gardner's new food supplies were beyond good, but sometimes nothing made him feel more at home than some good old fashioned Wasteland food. By the end of the trip the Courier was exhausted

It took a bit more until they arrived in the clinic and he could see the bodies of the Blue Sun mercs that the human couple had told them about. And as soon as they got there, Miranda was able to explain that all they had to do to find Mordin was to find the rapid talking Salarian.

…

In Mordin's clinic…

Travis looked all over the place and shook his head as he waited outside alongside Jacob as Angela and Miranda were busy talking to Mordin Solus. He looked at the mess before him and he could not help but feel a bit sickened by the sight of the various beings dying. Sure it was new to him, seeing this many alien species alongside humans, but to see them dying was not the thing he wanted to see.

Jacob could see that and while wearing his Cerberus Shock Trooper Armor, spoke to his partner.

"You see anything like this back in the wasteland?"

"Plenty, though seeing aliens like this is new to me."

"Yeah, pretty good thing that we got these suits vacuum sealed, we might be human, but I for one am not taking any chances. They are scared stiff and angry too, all it takes is one wrong move or one wrong word and there's going to be a riot."

Travis nodded and wondered just when they were going to move out as it was Miranda and Angela who were talking with Mordin to convince the former STG operative, medic and science expert to join them in fighting the Collectors. He was confused as to why would anyone make a virus like this. It was almost as if the virus was meant to wipe out the non human population of the station and leave the humans alive. That would be the reason why so many aliens think it was a human made plague, but he had his doubts. After all, if it was meant to wipe out the alien races here and leave the humans wouldn't doing it like this make the whole situation for the humans here worse?

"Who do you think made this virus Jacob?"

"Not sure, but I can bet it might be our old buddies the Collectors."

"How can you be certain?"

"I'm not, but given the fact that the virus only affects non humans, it's a safe bet its' for a reason. Humans are outnumbered in Omega so wiping put anyone that's not human is going to leave this place very short handed, easy picking for anyone, especially the Collectors."

Before Travis could say anything the lights dimmed and the ventilation systems did not sound the least bit friendly. Jacob was more than familiar with that sound and spoke out his thoughts easily.

"Shit…the environmental control center must have been hit!"

Travis was quick to catch on as he replied.

"That must be it, they used this place as a testing ground for the plague and now that it seems to be working, the Blood Pack must be planning to flood all of Omega with it."

The confirmation came from Angela as she and Miranda came back.

"Travis is right on that one, Mordin agrees that this is the Collectors work since they are the only race capable of making a plague of this power and sophistication to be able to affect all species. The fact that it's not affecting humans makes this all the more serious. Our only chance is to get the cure into the system and distribute it as it's already possible the enemy plans to send the plague all throughout the station. Big chance we'll be right into the Blood Pack's back yard and no doubt more Vorcha will be there to greet us. Before we do, here you go."

Angela handed the two men a set of pistols which were a lot different than the ones they had before and Jacob spoke to them.

"These are Carnifax Pistols…where'd you get them Commander?"

"Courtesy of the Professor, apparently he had gotten them off some of the Blue Suns that tried to attack the clinic from before. Got a whole crate of them as well so we've got our own too, but figured you guys will need the extra punch somewhere in this fight."

Travis grinned as he looked at the weapon and it soon was stored away and he replied as he took out his Gatling Laser.

"I take that means heavy firepower is needed Commander?"

Angela eyed the mean looking weapon and nodded in agreement, she was looking forward to seeing this Gatling laser in action and the same could be said for Jacob and Miranda.

"Exactly, we have no idea how many of the Blood Pack are still out there for us to deal with, but heavy firepower is a must. Get yourselves ready, we're going to be hitting the Blood Pack on their own back yard. Warbringer, you take point, Miranda and I will provide long range fire while Jacob supports with his shotgun. Change weapons only when you need to so we can be ready for anything that comes our way. Remember that we have to distribute the cure in the environmental systems, but we have another objective."

Jacob raised an eyebrow at that as he spoke.

"What's that commander?"

"One of Mordin's assistants, a man named Daniel had attempted to release the cure earlier, he has not reported back yet. Mordin would like us to find him and bring him back alive if possible. I know that it might sound strange that we're doing this but if we find him we might be able to get an extra supply of the cure which can be helpful, plus the man is said to be as good as Mordin, and that is from the Salarian's mouth so I am going to take his word for it."

Miranda thought it over and replied as she made the calculations in her head.

"If we do find him alive, and release the cure, he can take over the clinic when Mordin comes with us. If he is as good as Mordin said he is then saving him is a wise move that we have to make. But we will have to hurry, if we don't…"

Angels nodded to that.

"Then let's not waste time, let's get moving people."

The team nodded and soon they were off to finish the rest of the mission.

…

Later…

There was a patrol of Vorcha in the way of the group when they left the clinic and moved deeper into the area of the quarantine zone. The team stopped briefly and Angela nodded to Travis, that was all the man needed to see as he quickly got out of cover and aimed his weapon while warming it up. Once he was clear, he shouted at the Vorcha to get their full and undivided attention and make them pay for it.

"TIME TO LIGHT IT UP!"

That was the only warning the Vorcha coming to attack got as massive bolts of laser energy came out from the Courier's massive weapon. The laser bolts were shocking to the creatures and their indecision was costly as two of them were literally carved up by the incoming weapons fire. The ones who were still alive got to cover and this allowed Travis' comrades to unleash their own attacks as Angela took out her Sniper Rifle while Jacob took out his own Carnifax while Miranda did the same. All three of them unleashed their shots and the Vorcha was literally cut in half.

The team cleaned up the mess and Travis was given the spare thermal clips that they had recovered for him to carry. He still went ahead to lead the team and soon they encountered another batch of Blood Pack forces heading their way, this time there was a Krogan ahead of the whole group that was coming their way. The Krogan roared out and began to unleash a barrage of fire from it's weapons while the other Vorcha closed in to attack. Travis was quick to react and soon unleashed a torrent of laser fire. That attack killed the Krogan as the Kinetic barriers his armor had was rendered useless by the laser weapon's fire, and he soon dropped into nice sliced and smoking pieces. Travis however had to place his Gatling Laser aside and switch to his Plasma Defender once more as this would at least make him more mobile. The Courier lined up the shots and fired several blasts that tore through the armor of the Blood Pack. The Krogan leading the bunch apparently was not expecting to be shot by actual plasma and the energy tore into the armor of his face and it was painful enough to make the alien cry out in pain. That also served to enrage the Krogan as it roared at him. That told the former Courier that the battle was about to go close quarters for him. He quickly placed the weapon aside and took out one of his Cosmic Knives and readied himself.

Angela and the others were wide eyed at this and thought that the former Wasteland resident had gone loco, and apparently the Krogan thought the same as it charged at him, discarding the Shotgun to possibly tear the man apart. The Courier however was not worried as he attacked the alien and aimed for the melted area of the Krogan's armor and while the Krogan managed to punch at Travis. Travis took a blow and he felt his head ring inside his helmet, but he responded with smacking his head right back in the face of the Krogan.

The creature roared at Travis as he stabbed the creature multiple times and soon it was dead, but he decided not to take chances and grabbed a grenade. He pulled the pin and stuffed it into the area he had been stabbing. The grenade was not too powerful but it was enough. The Krogan was now dead as the explosion INSIDE it's helmet reduced it's head into one soupy mess.

The battle was over and it was not long before the team finally found Daniel surrounded by Batarians, and none of the aliens were happy. They were about to kill Daniel but thankfully Shepard managed to talk them down and make them lower their weapons. Travis was impressed by how Angela defused the situation and even more so when she kept her word. The Batarians themselves were also surprised that there was a thing such as human nobility after all to which Travis merely shrugged as he got his weapons ready for another possible fire fight after Angela managed to get the spare cure from Daniel and soon sent the man back to Mordin in order to help the Salarian doctor until they got the environmental systems back online and also dealt with the Blood Pack who were responsible for this attack..

And as they left, they soon found it as more Vorcha members of the Blood Pack came at them, Travis was already used to the way they fought and how they willingly charged in like rabid feral Ghouls. Difference there was these guys fought with guns than with just their limbs and teeth.

The fire fight did not last long as Miranda and Jacob unleashed their Biotics once more on the Blood Pack forces. They cleaned house as Travis fired one plasma bolt into the face of his next attacker and the Vorcha dropped dead. He however was soon attacked by a Varren and it was only with the quick release of his GRA Katana that he managed to kill the creature.

The intense sharpness of the Saturnite Alloy Blade was shown as the Courier pulled the sword down and it cut the creature from neck to tail tip in moments. The sight was disgusting to the Courier though after all the slaughter he had seen and had taken part in, he was used to it But the same could not be said for the others, sure they had all seen their fair share of bloody messes, but none of them saw a hostile creature get cut nearly in half and now spilling blood and guts all over the floor.

"Damn…that is one SHARP sword you got there Travis."

Travis grinned and saluted Jacob as he placed the sword aside and took out his Gatling Laser again as they moved in. They soon dealt with a few more Vorcha and they quickly realized that they were reaching their objective as EDI filled them in.

"Commander, you, Executive Lawson, Operative Taylor, and Warbringer are approaching the environmental control room of Omega . I am not able to get full control of the cameras but I have determined that there is a heavy team of Vorcha in the area. Several of them happen to be in an elevated position and are armed with heavy weapons. I cannot determine the exact status of the environmental control systems and the fan controls but they seem to be fairly intact. I also do not know if there are other Blood Pack forces there."

Angela shook her head and replied.

"It's a safe bet that if they want to ruin the station and spread the plague, they'd have heavy forces there. They must be sending out the only units they can spare with all their heavy hitters deeper in their territory while focusing all their heavy weapons there in this one place. Anything you can tell us about the room itself EDI?"

"The room has at least three open upper areas, and at least two high floors over the paths leading to the two fan control rooms. The possibility of Blood Pack forces taking those positions to snipe or attack with heavy weapons is high. So expect heavy resistance there."

…

That was all they were going to need as they entered the room, the very second they did so, several of the Blood Pack Vorcha spotted them and the apparent leader of the bunch began to speak. It's speech was tinged with bloodlust and violence towards the humans as it outlined in it's own tongue the plan of the Collectors for the plague that they had unleashed on Omega. This served to confirm to everyone in the team that the Collectors were indeed behind all of this.

Travis however had enough and quickly took out his Gauss Rifle and fused his .S and shot the Vorcha right in the face. The head was blown clean off the creature and the body was sent to the wall, followed by a resounding splattering sound as the now headless corpse hit the wall.

"Go to hell ugly!"

That got the team into action as Travis quickly got to cover and reloaded his Gauss Rifle as Miranda got to cover on one side while Jacob went to the other. Travis quickly aimed up the scope and spotted two heavies coming in as he spoke to the others.

"Rockets on the Upper Floor!"

Shepard saw that along with Jacob and Miranda as Shepard quickly gave several crisp orders on the fly as she took out her own M-8.

"Miranda, Travis, take out those heavies, Jacob and I will deal with the ones here!"

Both he and Miranda nodded as he quickly lined up his Gauss weapon but spotted the guy fire at him, forcing him to break lock. Only for the incoming missile to strike as a Biotic barrier, placed up by Miranda. He decided that he was going to need some help and quickly placed down his Gauss Rifle and took out his upgraded Laser Rifle, checked the power MFC charges and took out a specially bundled together set of MFCs, he then slid the cells over to Miranda, followed by the Rifle.

"Lawson! 24 shots per cell, make them count!"

Miranda saw the weapon and quickly got it as it came to her, placing aside her Machine Pistol and placed the rifle stock on her shoulder and quickly looked through the scope. She spotted the previous shooter readying a missile, aiming it at Angela and took the shot, the energy was bit off, but it tore into the face of the Vorcha, making it roar in pain as charred flesh fell of the wound. Miranda was surprised at the total lack of recoil and fired another shot into the face, killing the creature. She turned quickly to take out the other, only to see a faint glowing trail and a slight blast as the Vorcha now sported a gapping and bleeding cavity in the chest…courtesy of Travis' Gauss Rifle.

The two quickly turned to support the others and soon the battle was over but Miranda decided to keep the rifle with her for a moment as she had a feeling there were going to be more of the Blood Pack. She doubted that it was only the ones here that were around. EDI guided the team to the control center and soon inserted the cure, now all they had to do was reactivate the fans to spread the cure all over Omega.

But it was not long before Travis' Pip Boy's warning systems kicked in and he spoke out as the fans' operation systems came online and were now ready to be used in their control rooms.

"We've got company guys, and there's a freaking lot of them!"

The group turned as they too spotted the incoming hostiles on their own scanners. Apparently the Blood Pack had indeed kept most of their heavy hitter here and now they were being unleashed into the battle. They moved out of the way and quickly moved to cover in the same places as before as several Vorcha came on the scene to unleash more missile attacks on them. Travis and Miranda quickly came up to fire on the shooters as Angela took out her Sniper Rifle to join into the fight. Laser bolts, Gauss Rounds and Mass Accelerator slugs filled the air as they fought back with Jacob using his Biotics to attack as well, sending one Vorcha flying for Miranda to plug in the chest with a laser bolt. Travis was the next one as he quickly fired his Gauss Rifle to literally behead one of the Rocket armed Vorcha.

They continued to fight off the Vorcha on either side above them and thus they also had to be careful of the incoming missiles. They all had to move away as their kinetic barriers were still not strong enough to take a direct rocket hit. And there had been some close calls, Travis had at one point pulled Miranda aside as a rocket soon impacted on the area she had been in before until Angela took out the shooter. He did likewise for Jacob when the Biotic was being attacked from behind and his shields held as he shot back alongside Jacob who used his Carnifax Heavy Pistol.

Angela then realized that if they were to get to the control centers on either side of the complex now, they would have to move as a two person team on either side and she gave her orders.

"Travis, you and me take the western fan control area, Miranda and Jacob, take the other!"

"Roger!"

The four formed into two pairs and soon began to fight their way into the fan control areas, Miranda was still using Travis' loaned Laser Rifle and Jacob carried his Eviscerator Shotgun as they moved to take control of the fan while Travis armed this time with his Multiphase Rifle and Angela with her own M-8 moved to face the enemy before them. It was not easy but they were soon able to move in and take out the last vestiges of the Blood Pack, though Travis was quick to use his Implant to fire an amount of Turbo into him and soon moved at speed towards his Krogan foe who tried to smash his face in with the butt of his Shotgun, but Travis moved and introduced the barrels of his weapon into the face and fired a full blast reduced the attacking alien's face into nothing but a pile of goo.

Angela was also quick to let her own abilities kick in and she quickly supported Travis as she fired several more bursts from her own M-8 and caught a Vorcha right in the face. She then moved and smashed her weapon into the face of another Vorcha coming in to tear into Travis from behind and she was more than ready to attack. As soon as the alien was sent back by the force of the blow, Angela aimed her weapon right at the alien's exposed torso, and from that range, the slugs from the M-8 had no trouble actually cutting the alien in half.

They soon faced the Krogan leader and Travis was able to switch to his Plasma Rifle and fired several bolts into the creature that made it roar in rage as it fired it's own weapon. The Kinetic barriers installed into his Enclave Armor flared up to counter the incoming slugs as Travis was soon supported by Angela who focused her M-8 at the very same spot that Travis had shot with his Plasma Rifle. The combined assault brought the Krogan down as Travis then took out one of his plasma grenades and tossed it on the Krogan. The plasma explosion tore through the armor and blew a large chunk off the now dead corpse to prevent the alien from regenerating as they finished off the rest of the still living Vorcha.

They soon arrived at the control room and after securing it, they took over the controls just as Miranda called in.

"Commander, Jacob and I have secured the control room, ready to activate the fans on our end."

"Good to hear. We've secured our control room as well and got past the enemy forces here. Let's get both of them activated."

Once they did so, they were able to send in the cure and soon made their way back to the Clinic. For Miranda as she gave the Rifle back to Travis, having him on their side was a boon that they were not going to ignore. Jacob himself was curious to try using some of those weapons himself, namely the energy weapons that Travis had been using for some time now since the mission started. The gear would indeed be welcomed in fighting the Collectors and prevent them from taking even more colonists.

…

Later…

As they were now back to the clinic, Travis could not help but feel himself relax as his Turbo rush began to fade off and out of his system. The battle had been pretty intense and as they got back to the Clinic they were greeted by the patients and staff who were happy that the cure had been released and saved many lives, human and non human as this meant that the attacks on humans would finally stop. Once that was over he moved to the side and allow Angela and the others to talk to Mordin and get him to join them now that the cure was released. The Collectors were certainly merciless bastards in his mind in willing to slaughter all the non humans on Omega to get the humans if Jacob was right on the money.

As for him, he was looking forward to get his armor cleaned up and also get a much needed meal. Maybe he could ask the Mess Sergeant named Gardner if he could cook some of his own personal stores of food and have a much needed meal. Sure he found some of Gardner's cooking to be very new and fresh compared to some of the stuff he had eaten, but he was in the mood for some good old fashioned Wasteland grub. And he had more than ample stores of that type of food with him so no sense letting the stuff go to waste.

Once the talking was over, Travis sat up from where he had been sitting to bleed the stress off to greet the newly expanded crew. The former Courier moved to shake hands with Mordin who was a bit surprised by his appearance due to the fact that Travis had been outside of his room on both counts.

"So you're Professor Mordin eh? Welcome, the name's Travis…"

"Strange, don't recall meeting you with Commander Shepard, and Armor is unlike any configuration or model used by either Alliance, Terminus, or Cerberus. Interesting design if somewhat extended in size, possibly for increased physical protection…"

Travis was a bit confused by that as he had never seen or heard anyone talk that fast before even among the brains in the Big MT, but Angela managed to get things going as she spoke once more to Mordin.

"Professor, this is Travis Marlowe or Warbringer as he is called, a recent addition to the team I am assembling."

The Salarian looked at Travis a bit more and then replied.

"Warbringer, a bringer of war in meaning, curious, never heard of such a title for a human. Judging by stance and movement in armor you have extensive experience in combat operations?"

"Yeah, you could say that, anyway Prof, you want to continue this back on the ship? We can shoot the science hoops there in the lab if you want since I can bet you saw the tech I was packing. I can even show you how some of this works."

"Intriguing, gifted in the sciences?"

"Heh, not much really, but I learn fast and I had a lot of time tinkering with tech on my off hours."

Angela decided to speak once more and hope that this was not going to take too long.

"Uh, better you two stick to doing the science bits BACK in the lab of the Normandy okay?"

It took a bit more but they were soon off and apparently along the way, Angela had a lot of things in her hands to set over back in the Normandy. Travis only hoped that he would be able to make sense of this Salarian scientist who he was soon going to be working with in the soon to come war with the Reapers.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's notes:

Well, here we have yet another chapter that I was able to finish in time, I just hope that this kept the story alive for all the readers since it had been some time since I worked on this one so I might have lost track of it. If I have, then I apologize heavily in advance for that since it has been a while since I updated this one.

Travis' reactions to Biotics is to be expected since none of the Asari had been able to take to the fight and since he had been busy trying to grasp the fact is NOT anywhere in his Earth anymore, he has not read up on Biotics. This is enough to tell him to be careful of Biotic users and his comments are to be expected. Let's face it, if I lived in the Mojave Wasteland and suddenly saw a man or woman suddenly surrounded with blue glowing energy and tossing aside people, abominations, and mutated wild life like they were toys, create fields of energy and whatnot, I'd be shocked too and start thinking that they were something else than human or not.

Miranda's experience with the Laser Rifle is just a start, so there will be other times that the crew will be given the weapons Travis has and get to use them in a fight. But since none of them have any training, their skills in them are not as high as that of Travis since he has used them a lot longer than most of them. So he might be the one to teach them how to use them in combat and in time I might have the plans of the energy weapons in the hands of the Alliance and who might help fight the Reapers.

Travis will get his new arsenal at a much later date since at this time, he will stick to the weapons he now has and will be able to get used to this world. There will be a brief interlude on the next chapter, might not even be too long as well. Afterwards we are going to be meeting none other than Garrus Vakarian, and you can bet that the second Travis reveals himself, there is going to be trouble.

After all, Garrus, having been on the original Normandy crew knows that Kaidan Alenko is dead so seeing someone who looks AND sounds like Kaidan is really going to make his jaw drop. There's going to be one heck of a discussion between Garrus and Angela as he will be asking just WHO Travis is and where the heck he came from. And how will Garrus fare working with Travis when he speaks and looks like Kaidan?

All that will be revealed in the coming chapters and soon we will be getting to the parts where we have to pick up Grunt or Jack. Who would you like the team to go after first?

See you all at the interlude chapter and then off to the battle for the team to reach Garrus. And possibly along the way, we hire a certain mercenary who can also be a hell of an addition to the growing crew that Shepard will be leading into battle.

See you all soon and I hope to hear from you all at a later date.


	5. Not a chapter

Hell readers, I know that normally you would be expecting a new chapter update, but this is obviously not one of them. I right now I have good news and bad news.

Bad news first since it has to be squared away so we can get to the good news. Just yesterday afternoon here in my side of the world, I received the scan warning of my PC that my hard drive has finally become bad and failure is imminent. I have been hearing weird noises from my HD for some time and after having it diagnosed, my cousin finally confirmed that it is reaching the end of it's ability to function. And now that day has come so now I have to either have it replaced or repaired.

And considering the fact that it's an older HDD model, I am not sure if it can be repaired, I will ask my cousin if he can try to repair it but if it is not salvageable then I have no other option but to buy a new one. And considering my family's current finances which is not too good but not too bad either, it might take a while. So that means my PC is dead in the water

Now the good news, I have managed to back up all my files prior to the collapse of the HD in my USB devices so it's not a total loss. I will find a way to upload all my recently updated non Halo files into the site and continue there until I solve my hard drive problem. If that works out, then I will be able to still update my work so it will not be long before I continue. So if you see a new update after this message is sent, then you will know that I am still alive and kicking.

Just to be clear, all Halo stories are still on ice so don't ask me about them. I will unfreeze them when I have done what I want with the non Halo ones. And the non Halo stories will still be updated whenever possible so don't worry about them.

…

I know this is not what anyone wants, but it was bound to happen eventually so I have to make the most of it.

See you all soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Fallout New Vegas Mass Effect: Warbringer

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Bioware or Obsidian so don't bother me with such questions.

Interlude 001

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Normandy 2…

Travis yawned a bit as he stripped off his Enclave Remnants Power Armor and reverted to using his Reinforced Leather Armor instead as the first was taken back into the Pip-Boy and the second now covered him. The second suit of armor was comfortable and truth be told, it had served him well ever since he took it off one of the annoying Jackal Gang raider leaders, who's camps dotted the Mojave. It would be useless here, but at the very least it gave him a serious case of fashion sense, he COULD have worn Benny's Suit but decided not to at this time since he had to do other matters, namely getting himself from good old fashioned Wasteland grub.

He checked his supplies of food and saw that he still had plenty of Gecko Meat on him along with some Brahmin meat, Prickly pears, Jalapeno Peppers. He also managed to have some Blood Sausages as well.

The food made Travis grin and he was going to really enjoy this meal, all he could hope for was that he was not going to be hassled for his choice of food. After he was done eating, he was going to see if he could go to the place that would be called an entertainment area in the ship. After that, he could go and check up with that Salarian scientist to see if he or it, or whatever one could all this Mordin Solus guy, could help make his new weapons work. He did not hate the new guns, heck they were all right, but he preferred his own gear to all this new fangled stuff since it was more familiar to him.

For now however, he was in the mood for some good old fashioned Wasteland grub. Only thing he hoped for was not giving his new found allies the creeps when they found out just what he was about to east in front of them.

…

In the Normandy's Lab…

Mordin was busy running through all the data that Cerberus had on the Collectors and he was fascinated to be finally able to learn about them. Like everyone else in the galactic community he had heard of the Collectors, but unlike everyone else who discounted them as myth, he being a member of the STG and being the Salarian that he was knew that myth had grains of truth in them. The fact that they had now began to abduct humans from colonies in the Terminus Systems added weight to his thoughts and he could see why Cerberus would look for his help. His thoughts on Cerberus were guarded of course, but that did not mean that he was going to turn down the chance to find out why the Collectors were attacking humans.

Another area of interest for the Salarian was naturally the human named Travis Marlowe, or rather his title of Warbringer, his armor was unlike any model that he knew of from either the Citadel or the Alliance. The same could be also be said for the Terminus Systems as well so he was definitely interesting. The weapons he had been given were primitive in the sense that they still used bullets, chemical propellant and the like but were still well made and would actually fetch a high price to collectors. The fact that Shepard had asked him to modify these weapons with their technology would be a good test to see if his skills were not rusty.

He was a doctor by choice and a geneticist, not a weapon manufacturer, but there had been stranger things he could do. Plus he had heard of Shepard from the STG grapevine, Hero of the Citadel, Savior of the Council, First Human Spectre, and the like, along with the fact he heard of how she had worked with his old colleague Kirrahe.

The Salarian smirked a bit at that and went back to work on finding out ways to counteract the Collectors and also work on these weapons to make them more compatible with their technology. All in all, it was going to be a rather good day. And of course there was something about their new found ally that he wanted to find out as well so no sense seeing the doctor's reports on the man.

(This should be interesting.)

…

Angela Shepard managed to finish taking a bath which really felt good. After dealing with the mess in Omega, and getting the smell of death all over, she was happy that she was able to clean up. Though in this case, she had to bathe twice in order to make sure that she did not stink. Now she could see why Miranda insisted on bathing twice after decontamination procedures were over. There was something in Omega that REALLY made you want to clean yourself over well. As soon as she stepped out of the bath, she grabbed a towel and began to dry up and soon get into a change of underwear and soon got into a change of regular clothing, though she was none too happy to be wearing clothing with the Cerberus symbol on it.

As she got herself cleaned up, she spoke to EDI.

"EDI."

Soon the avatar of the Normandy's A.I appeared and spoke.

"Here and ready for what you need Commander Shepard."

"How is Mordin doing in the lab?"

"Professor Solus has acclimated well to the new lab that Cerberus has specially constructed on the Normandy and is already hard at work with finding a countermeasure to the Collectors' means of paralyzing humans."

"Good, has he reported anything on how it is going?"

"Not at the moment, he is currently looking over all the data and also has begun to ask on what resources are available for the projects we have given him. He had also asked for Mr. Marlowe's medical files."

Angela nodded at that and replied.

"Very well, make sure that he gets what he asks for, make sure that we have every resource that can be spared and also for improving our own technology, armor and weapons. Also send word to Dr. Chakwas to allow Mordin access to Travis' medical files. Speaking of which, where exactly is our resident Courier?"

"Mr. Marlowe is currently in the mess hall cooking."

That surprised Angela as she did not peg the man for the cooking type. Though she had managed to recall that he had survived on his own in that world he called home. That land naturally would demand that one had what it took to live off the land and make the most of his situation.

"I see, well than, I guess I am going to take a look. Thanks for the information EDI.""

"You are welcome Commander Shepard. Logging you out."

…

The Normandy's Crew's Quarters…

This place was where the gun deck was along with where Miranda's office was along with the Mess Hall and also where the people did their business. Naturally when no one had duties to do and could afford to take a break, this was where they would be. And usually Gardner would be the one doing the cooking though this time around, someone else was doing the cooking. Gardner was currently lifting a crate full of military rations and also looking at the newest member of the crew, Travis Marlowe.

When the man came in his leather getup, the Mess Sergeant asked what he was bringing and when he was told that the man wanted to cook food from his world, the man was a bit apprehensive. He like many others had heard about where Travis had come from and they were still unable to deal with the fact that he came from an alternate Earth where Humanity was literally bombed back to the Stone Age. Still the man was very skilled and proved to be all right though his way of humor took some getting used to.

All he could do right now was watch the man as he was flipping slabs of meat that he could not identify on his stove and the smell that came from them was weird. Not bad weird, just weird, in fact it almost smelled like nothing he recognized. He soon turned to see none other than Miranda Lawson, Jacob Taylor, and Angela Shepard coming into the area. They were not alone as the other members of the crew wondered just what was going with the smell. One of them quickly groaned and spoke out to the others.

"Oh man, Gardner's cooking yet another disaster again."

Normally that would have pissed off the Mess Sergeant but right now he did not bother with a response to the snide blow at his cooking skills. He was a damn good cook and the only reason he was not doing well was that all he had to work with were military rations. And while the military rations were all good and worth having on the go, they were hardly the kind of food you could make good meals with. He had hoped to get actually good supplies for this mission since he knew that the people were going to need good meals before they got into the really freaky shit with the Collectors, but right now, they were still near Omega. And there was NO way he was buying anything from this galactic pisshole.

So as much as he did not like the people on the Citadel, he hoped that they would move to the Citadel to buy quality supplies there. Those softies in the Citadel at the very least knew good grub when they got it.

"In case it escaped your attention jackass, I'm no the one cooking today, he is."

…

It did not take very long before people finally saw that it was not Gardner cooking the meat but their new crew member Travis. The man smiled and soon he was done and took his food to the nearby table and sat down. Once he was done, he grabbed some utensils and began to dig into his chosen meal of the day. The others wondered just what the meat he cooked was since it was unlike anything they had smelled, they were curious about it.

Soon enough, there came Angela who also took a good whiff of the smell and saw that Travis was now digging into the food. She was soon joined by Jacob and Miranda who were there to also get something to eat. The first Human Spectre soon sat next to the man who gave her a nod with a smile while eating his food.

"Hey there Ma'am, can I help ya?"

"EDI said you were cooking when I asked what you were doing. As much as I don't want to sound like I am being foolish, I had no idea that you could cook."

Travis laughed at that.

'No worries, I'm not offended, but while this is not going to win prizes in the cooking department here on the Normandy, this is good stuff. Your Mess Sergeant here can whip up a good meal by my standards, but I am in the mood for something to remind me of the Wasteland, as messed up as it is."

It was not long before the meal was now cooked and the smell was rather different from what many of them smelled. Travis smiled and placed the meat on a plate and soon began to dig in and he soon commented as he was joined by Miranda, Jacob, and Angela who were curious on what the meal he was eating was.

"Ah…nothing like a nicely cooked Gecko steak to really make me think of home, messed up as it is."

Angela could not help but stare at the sight of the meat that Travis was eating, she was tempted to try the meat until she heard that it was from a Gecko.

"That's meat from a GECKO?"

Travis said nothing first as he chewed on the meat until he decided to answer

"Yep…pretty good eating if you cook it right, but if eaten raw…ugh, gives you the shits and messes up with your strength. Brahmin steak on the other hand is excellent eating and is the standard back home when you want good old red meat. Though I can say that there are some exceptions, Big Horner taste just as good though you can bet they would not take kindly to you if start shooting at them. Even more so if you start messing with their calves, I did that once and one bull managed to knock clear off my feet and send me flying a good ways back."

Angela looked at the meat Travis was eating before her and the other members of the crew and could not fathom that the meat came from an animal as a Gecko. Sure she had heard of survivalists and wilderness training instructors in the past teaching how to eat meat from animals normally seen as either as pets or wild life, but not in person. And despite the fact that she could not fathom that it was from a Gecko, the meat did indeed smell nice in a slightly sick sort of way.

She was not the only one as Jacob and Miranda were also looking at the man eating the meat with gusto. Jacob was raising his eyebrows at the sight while Miranda was still trying to figure out just how it was possible that someone would actually eat meat from such a creature. Angela then spoke next to Travis as he took another bite of the meat.

"Just what sort of Gecko are we talking about here?"

Travis swallowed and replied.

"That depends on variety I guess, the regular Geckos, the Golden ones, and the Fire Breathing Geckos always come in two types, the young ones that are about the height of a full grown dog, and the adults that are about the height of a man's chest. The Green geckos on the other hand could only be found in Zion Canyon and they can be a real pain in the posterior if you ain't careful."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at that and replied.

"Fire-breathing Geckos? You can't possibly be serious about that Travis."

Travis laughed a bit grimly and replied.

"Miss Lawson, I am not yanking your chain here, one of the burns I got on this body of mine came from a Fire Gecko. The big bastard was with a pack of his when I attacked them with my Hunting Rifle, I killed most of them but the one that got me was behind the body of one of them. Damn thing tried to leap and me and rip a chunk off me too, dodged it but then got hit by a blast of fire on the side from him. I got out my Hunting Shotgun and rammed it into his mouth and fired."

Travis sighed and grinned a bit more.

"And just so you know, I am eating that same Gecko that tried to stir fry me. I never did figure out just HOW they could breath fire, but I guess radiation can do that to you after two hundred years. Trust me, I have seen creatures and abominations like you wouldn't believe."

Jacob shook his head and replied.

'That's just nuts."

Travis frowned a bit and replied.

"That's the law of the Wastelands when dealing with the wildlife Jacob, you either kill and eat or be killed and eaten. I've lost count of how many other poor bastards ended up being food to others like this one I'm eating. If I had not killed it, it would have killed me and I'd be the one in it's gullet."

Angela shook her head at that and spoke.

"That is one messed up world you live in…hard to imagine that it's Earth."

Travis grinned at that and replied.

"It ain't all bad you know Miss Shepard, and the Gecko skins you do get make excellent bartering material, plus they can be made into clothes. I remember back in New Reno on one of my trips as a Courier that some of the women who happened to be part of the crime families there wore dresses made from Golden Gecko hide. And I gotta tell you…they were definitely hot looking in the getup!"

"Come to think of it, I do have a number of the hides with me in my Pip-boy, if you got the credits, I think I can have some dresses made for you and Miss Lawson here, that's make the whole dancing thing a lot more appealing huh?"

Jacob busted a gut laughing along with some of the men nearby, even Mess Sergeant Gardner chuckled a bit. Miranda rolled her eyes while Angela shook her head and had to wonder just why this guy was trying to be charming. However, the fact that he had hides from such creature did get her interest and she decided to take a look.

"Okay, can I see some of those?"

Travis grinned and replied.

"Sure thing Commander, give me a second here to finish my meal and grab a drink."

Travis did just that and soon he tapped into his Pip-boy and soon a number of rolled up reptile skins before the crew. Angela raised an eyebrow along with Miranda as they touched the skins from the Geckos. The skins were all different as well, there were some that had a golden color with some hues in them, some deep violet with lighter shades of the same color, and others with various hues of green. These were the hides that Travis had gained in his travels killing Geckos that tried to make a meal out of him. The skins were unrolled and both women took the time to feel the hides and get a feel of the whole selection of hides, and from what hey had done they saw and felt that there were the things one expected from reptile hide. But the hides also felt strong and durable, almost like regular leather from larger animals. But the hides also had a sleek and supple feel to them, almost like the finest and smoothest leather one could feel.

It was still hard to believe that these hides were used to make clothes, though considering the collapse of society and the sheer size of the creatures, it was common sense to use these hides for clothing and whatnot. The fact that the hides also were of considerable size added to the whole thing and would no doubt if properly treated and utilized, would indeed make great clothing. Still it was an experience for them to see these things, actual hides from animals that were from an alternate Earth. Travis grinned and when they were done, he took the skins and rolled them before letting his Pip-Boy take them away. Miranda then decided to get some more data on the life there in this alternate Earth Travis came from.

"Apart from these Geckos, what are the other life forms there?"

Travis smirked.

"Take your pick, Brahmin are two headed cows we have there and they are just as important to every living thing in the Wastelands no matter where you happen to be. The meat's pretty good and the milk, while different from what I heard, is all right. The bones, tendons, and hides certainly find a lot of use for anything from basic clothes to more ornate stuff. Brahmin also happen to be great pack beasts since they can go for long months with no water and don't need to eat all that much. And I know that the NCR has herds of them for use by Brahmin Barons."

Jacob raised an eyebrow at that and spoke out.

"Brahmin Barons? You mean like those wealthy landowners in the past that owned large numbers of cows and bulls?"

Travis nodded.

"Yep, there are other animals too in the Wasteland that have some good uses, but you can only find some of them in certain places. The Big Horners for example are only found in the Mojave and while they are good for meat and hides, don't ever use them for pack animals. Anything you put on their backs, they will just sit there and do nothing until you take them off. Even giant Mole Rats can be found as well as wild Dogs and while some are actually raised and used, others…are not so friendly so be ready for a fight."

Gardner groaned and spoke as he was still a bit green when he discovered that Travis was eating Gecko meat.

"Don't tell me you guys eat those too?"

"Yep we do, but you tried eating Mole Rat meat from said Mole Rat the size of a two year old dog? It's totally crap the second it hits your taste buds, I remember having to eat one raw piece at one time and I swear I had to spend three to four hours drowning my tongue in whiskey to get rid of the taste. But if you process it right and add some choice good ingredients, it kind of tastes like cinnamon though for the life of me I have no idea what cinnamon is. And don't get me started on the last one, I swear I had to avoid looking at Dogs for a while after having to…"

Gardner groaned and even some of the other crew looked away in disgust, Miranda however shook her head and spoke out.

"I think now is not a good time to speak of these matters Travis, you might end up being banished from the mess hall."

Travis nodded and replied.

"Sorry about that, there IS one food item I have tried that is actually quite good. They call it the Wasteland Omelet and it's is one hell of the treat to eat. You ate one, you got full for the rest of the next two to three days, but you would have to have balls of steel to get two critical ingredients for said Omelet."

Angela was curious about that and decided to ask.

"What's the first one?"

"Oh, that's easy, one Death Claw egg, finding that is easy enough, find the Death Claw nest, and look for the Alpha Female. The eggs are usually there. The HARD part is trying to kill an entire nest of the bastards while trying to avoid either being torn to shreds by the Death Claws of the pack including the mother and the Alpha Male who are both the meanest and the largest of the whole nest group, or being alive long enough to see yourself being reduced into a chew toy and food item for the Baby Death Claws."

…

Most of the crew did not know what a Death Claw is, only Miranda, Angela, and Jacob had some idea of the creature in question. And they were looking at Travis as if he had just admitted to that he was borderline insane. They never saw a Death Claw themselves of course, but they had seen it's handiwork on Travis already so it was hard to imagine one was crazy enough to tangle with them to get their eggs.

"Don't tell me YOU tried to get some of those eggs yourself?!"

The former Courier gave a sly grin and nodded.

"I did, though at the time I was only told of the recipe to make it as a passing by thing. I was actually asked by the foreman of the NCR owned Quarry Junction to clear out a Death Claw pack that took up residence there. I had to kill the two Alpha Death Claws to scatter the pack, it's just pure luck that I managed to get the eggs along the way. Though I also did that in order to have some of the eggs taken to the Thorn since it was the last on the to do list for Red Lucy at the time."

"What's the Thorn? And who's Red Lucy?"

This was asked by Jacob and Travis replied.

"The Thorn's an arena in the Mojave that hosts battles to the death between the various wild life in the Wasteland from Giant Mantises to Death Claws, and if you are feeling up to it yourself, you can pay to fight them, with some serious rules, enforced by death. They usually find eggs through their hunters who go out and risk their lives to get those eggs. I got roped into it since I needed caps and truth be told, it was pretty damn exciting, and I did get a wickedly cool shotgun afterwards, a serious cap bounty…and some, alone time with Red Lucy."

"She by the way runs the Thorn, she's their head huntress and is not afraid to fight like a Death Claw herself when the mood hits here. And as for her bedroom skills, let's just say that she definitely can drive you up the wall. As for the other ingredient to said Omelet is Lakelurk meat."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at that and spoke.

"Lake-what?"

"Lakelurk, that's the name given to mutated American Snapping Turtles last I checked, and these are NOT your average creatures either. Imagine a seven and a half feet tall armored humanoid monstrosity that packs a NASTY sound based attack and mean as hell claws. They travel in packs of three and have seriously good eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell and VERY aggressive and territorial. They usually hang around Lake Mead and other areas with a LOT of water in the Mojave. I know this cause I had to fight them to get their meat and more than once I got hit by their sonic blasts, man...it felt like someone took an egg beater into your brain and turned it into mush. Had to fight it out and kill them before I got turned into their meal, but the meat is great stuff, as well as the egg tough not that tasty to me."

The people there just shook their heads and trooped off while Travis ate away with gusto.

…

Later…

Travis was very interested in the engineering room, namely since he got invited to a game of Skyllian Five Poker by two engineers, one named Kenneth Donelly and Gabriella Daniels. Both engineers were all right in his book and while the game was new to him, it reminded him of the card games he had back home in the Mojave. He was not much of a gambler since he was usually busy fighting battles. But when he was not being shot at and shooting back, he would routinely play games in the different casinos and play against those who would be willing to play a game of Caravan with him. That or go meet old friends to chat about adventures and the like, or visit Dazzle, Sweetie, and Sarah when time permitted.

As he got there, he began playing with the two engineers, and he heard that Shepard had played against Shepard much earlier and Kenneth had the wool pulled over him and got played like a schnook by Shepard. He enjoyed the thought of that and did wonder why was it that Kenneth continued to talk about the women when Gabby was very attractive herself. It was not long before his card playing skills came into the hot seat and soon he was giving Kenneth a good thrashing, much to Gabby's obvious amusement and his own as well.

…

In the Lab…

"Ah greetings Travis, expected you to show up early."

Travis grinned a bit at Mordin as the Salarian Scientist looked at him with what he thought and hoped as a smile. He had managed to read a bit more about the Salarians and had to admit to himself that Mordin was in a league of his own.

"Figured I'd drop by and see how your work on that cure for the Collectors is coming along. Same thing with my weapons as well, though I can bet that working with old tech like this is not so stimulating to you."

Mordin however gave a slight smirk and replied.

"Not at all, work on older tech is not hard and not problematic, have used some older chemical propellant weapons in the past before using current weapons. Fascinating and rather relaxing as variables are well known already. Am also very interested in you in particular as well"

Travis raised an eyebrow at that and then had a suspicion on why Mordin said that.

"Really?"

"Yes, read report on interview with Commander Shepard, Operative Lawson, and Operative Taylor. Quite fascinating to learn that origin is from another Earth, many theorize that there are other universes."

"Including you?"

Mordin grinned at that or Travis thought he grinned, and replied.

"Yes, not much evidence though and considered by totally theoretical. But now you are here, living proof that such theories are possible. Also read on medical reports submitted by Dr. Chakwas, very interesting indeed along with implants. Implants appear crude in some respects to current cybernetics technology, but very interesting nevertheless due to no Prothean influence. All developed solely by humans with limited resources. Very curious, would like to study more."

Travis raised an eyebrow at that and replied.

"You're not planning to put me on an operating table and dissect me are you Doc? If you are, don't expect me to go down without a serious amount of resistance."

Mordin looked offended somewhat.

"No need for that! Medical exams provided earlier were very thorough so no need to use such methods. Besides, aid in curing plague in Omega sign of good character, no reason to antagonize allies."

Travis replied to that.

"That's a relief, good to know that I am not going down the same road that had me with a bullet in the brain and having to lose said brain."

"Pardon?"

"It's in the report, the one titled Big Mountain Incident if it has a title."

"No, not mentioned in report, but will have to wait. Here for modified weapons yes?"

Travis nodded and Mordin pointed to the pile of his weapons that were there on the other side of the lab.

"Weapons will be ready in a span of at least a day, must do things properly to avoid the cost of changing the outcome. Installing Mass Accelerator tech will be done soon enough with the right time and materials as well as equipment. Normandy Lab and onboard fabricator systems are top of the line. Have to say that despite anti-alien reputation, Cerberus well funded and supplied."

"You don't mind working with them I take it Mordin?"

Mordin sniffed and replied.

'Not at all, would like however to scan your weapons that use energy."

"Figured we'd get to that at some point, why do you ask?"

"Technology to create infantry grade directed energy weapons quite rare, if at all impossible here due to costs, materials required, and time needed. To have actual working samples of energy weapons is very intriguing. Plus if possible for infantry, quite possible then for ships as well, could be quite an advantage when facing with the threat of the Collectors, as well as the Reapers. It will be costly to be sure but the benefits will outweigh the costs, even more so if conflict with Collectors will escalate. Has there been attempts in your Earth to mount energy weapons on vehicles?"

Travis scratched his head in thought, then he moved to his PIP Boy and looked over all the data that he had with him. He had also downloaded some of his own files that dealt with what he had heard of over the years in his travels.

"Not really sure about that, there were some old newspaper clippings about the old World government's attempts in that direction. They did manage to install lasers and even plasma into several types of robots. But the most successful, and I use that term loosely mind you was Liberty Prime back in the Capital Wasteland."

"Liberty Prime? Capital Wasteland?"

Travis later explained to Mordin what happened on one of his trips as a Courier. He had been sent there to deliver some packages to DC when he arrived at the near end of some serious war or another. He heard about the Robot named Liberty Prime and had actually seen the machine prior to it's fall. And he had spoken to none other than the Lone Wanderer, a hero and legend in the DC Wasteland named Evangeline Conner, daughter of James and Catherine Conner, or simply Eve by her friends and allies. Kind of poetic in a way and Eve was actually a good person and very friendly as well as compassionate. But when push came to shove…she could fight like a Death Claw and her number of kills against slavers, wild beasts, raiders, and more was proof of it.

In truth he and Eve had actually gotten along well and had he felt like he could make a new home in DC, he would have stayed and married her if he had the chance. But being who he was, he left and had parted on good terms with Eve, though he had a feeling that the last night he had with her prior to leaving might have gotten her pregnant. But Eve had stated she was all right with that as she was willing to raise the child they would have. She called him a good man and had she known what he had done to in the Mojave and beyond, she would have been proud of him.

That however he did not share with Mordin, his romantic escapades with women back in the world he came from were not to be spoken of. Besides, he doubted that the Salarian was into that sort of thing anyways.

Mordin soon spoke,

"Interesting, to build a mech of such size and functionality is quite remarkable. Granted some of the features were unstable and also not properly tested, but still, the fact that such a machine was made and armed with such weapons is impressive…if rather disturbing. Still, shows that Directed Energy Weapons for vehicles and ships are indeed possible."

"So you want to try seeing if it can be done?"

"Yes, but for now working on countermeasure for Collectors and on upgrading current weapons. Will be here in lab if you need something or have other scientific matters to discuss."

Travis grinned at that and decided to head back out and go to his own little quarters to do some of his usual work.

…

In his room…

Travis smirked as he worked on his Laser Rifle to clean out the corrosion and rust that was there on some of the parts. He normally would have used his supply of weapons maintenance kits, but right now Jacob was nice enough to give him some omni-gel containers. These containers of this new fangled omni-gel were pretty damn useful as he was now able to maintain his weapon without having to take working and better conditioned parts from other weapons, paying a fortune in caps to a merchant with repair skills, or wasting his maintenance kits.

Sure there were great guys and gals he could call on to keep his gear in full form, but they were not around yet so he had to make due. He was right now just wearing his Reinforced Leather Armor here while doing the work while there were some data-pads nearby for reading material to work with. He needed to know all the he could and try to keep himself up to date with this new universe he happened to be in. Plus he was also going to need to prep for the next mission that he was soon going to be dragged into.

As he was soon done, he turned and was greeted from his work by none other than Miranda Lawson. The man smiled at the Cerberus officer who nodded at him and he moved to get a chair for her. As soon as he did so, she gave him a raised eyebrow at his action and when he offered the chair, she sat down and she soon commented.

"You really are a gentleman."

"Yeah I guess, Pops raised me right, and coming from a merc of his rep, that's a lot, so what can I do for you Miss Lawson?"

"I wanted to thank you for your actions in the previous mission, you lived up to what you said you could do and that says a lot of your skills."

"Yeah well, I had a LOT of time to refine my skills back home you know. And there's the fact that I am all in on this mission to fight the Collectors so I better be at the top of my game. By the way, I know this might get me into hot water, but what else can you tell me about Shepard?"

That question surprised Lawson somewhat but she figured that it was bound to come around to this sooner or later. Shepard's file was there for all to see, but Travis struck her as the kind of person who was not going to let the official story tell him everything. And after all she had learned about him, that made a lot more sense as well.

"Oh? What exactly do you mean?"

"Nothing bad or anything, I mean I read the files and all, but I wanted to know what you think of her. You know, what's your real take on her as a person and then as a leader for this op of yours?"

"Shouldn't you be asking her that question? That seems rather private information you are asking of me."

"Yeah well anyone can write a report and all that stuff the pencil pushers do, but a real feel from a real person's a whole other matter. I know you don't have a long time work record with her and all that, but I just want to get your thoughts. Then I'll ask her, though I swear that I won't tell a soul, least of all her where I got the data. I learned enough first hand that talking smack about a woman who can kill you and look good doing it's a fucked up bad idea."

Miranda nodded a bit at than replied.

"Well, not much, you no doubt know that she has her parents still alive, and she helped fight the Batarians in the Skyllian Blitz a few years back, single handed I might add. But on a personal view, I feel that she has her heart in the right place. I might admit that I wanted to place a control chip on her to make sure she was not going to turn or anything. But the Illusive Man wanted her to remain as she is. So far, I can see that she seems to be doing well enough in making people follow her."

"Yeah, I can see that, anyway, did she used to run with another crew? I mean she did state that had been on the original Normandy, though what the hell that means escape me. That should tell me she had her own crew in the past before you guys, though I understand the Chakwas and Joker are members of the old crew."

"You are correct, Shepard had a good team with her, one was Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, one of the surviving Marines on Eden Prime when it was attacked. She was one of the best marines Shepard worked with though before, she was not too keen on working with others. That's due to her family history though she got quite a lot of recognition for her efforts to fight Saren and the Geth. Next was Urdnot Wrex, who was one of the few living Krogan Battlemasters in the galaxy, they happen to get that title since they are Biotics and in the Rebellions were the officers that kept the Krogan in line. He currently is on Tuchanka trying to reunite the clans there. Next is Garrus Valkarian, a former member of C-sec and a Turian if you want to know, he joined Shepard to fight Saren and the Geth and actually is one of Shepard's oldest friends. There's also Tali vas Neema Nar Rayya, or just Tali to Shepard, she's a Quarian engineer and machinist who was saved by Shepard since she had evidence that eventually started the hunt for Saren after Eden Prime"

"Hmmm…you have an image of her team?"

Miranda nodded and used her Omni-tool and soon Travis looked at the image of Shepard's crew after the whole thing. This was actually done by Miranda intentionally to avoid revealing the now deceased Kaidan Alenko. She knew full well how precious the relationship was between Angela and Kaidan and it was hard for Shepard to deal with the fact that Travis looked and sounded like her former love. And while she was not the kind to deal with the sentimental side of things too much she knew that Angela did not need to be reminded of the man she loved and ordered to his death. They had more dangerous matters to deal with and she needed to be focused. Though dealing with Travis was not going to be easy in any stretch of the imagination.

The former Courier then listened to any other details that Miranda was willing to share about his commanding officer, and when it was over, he thanked her and she decided to speak about something.

"You know, Cerberus can really benefit from schematics on these energy weapons of yours, as well as any other data on your reality's weapons and armor that can be used, no one so far has been able to make functional and practical energy weapons here for infantry. Let alone fusion power systems that are man portable. I also read reports on your conversation with Mordin, I have to admit that the idea of ships using Directed Energy weapons as their main armament is quite interesting and can be a game changer in the coming conflicts."

"What about the Alliance and the rest of the Galaxy? I mean sure those hard asses back on the Citadel and even on the Alliance annoy the hell out of me for hanging Shepard like that, but don't they get to have a chance too? I mean sooner or later, these Reapers are coming for everyone, not just humans alone so why not arm everyone in this world so they have a chance? You can't fight an enemy like that all by yourself after all, I mean even though they had a lot more firepower than the Legion in my world, I had to get a lot of aid from other groups to help the NCR, and not all of those groups liked the NCR to begin with."

…

Miranda sighed a bit at that and nodded a bit.

"I understand the logic there, but right now with things as they are, not everyone in the galaxy is aware or even willing to acknowledge that the Reapers are real. They all just want to hide and pretend that it's all going to go away, it's not. Sooner or later it is going to be too late, and right now, the colonists out here are suffering from the Collectors and we're right now the only ones with the resources and the means to help them, but it's not going to be enough. We need every advantage Travis, and your tech might at least even the odds against the Collectors and eventually the Reapers themselves once that come."

"Yeah, but if what I learned is right, the Reapers are massive living ships, and yes I saw Sovereign's pictures…hell if I saw something that big, I'd be crapping my pants and wishing I was anywhere but here. Cerberus as far I can see isn't exactly built for a front line war, no offense and all, and even if you were, you guys have no idea how many other Reapers are out there right? If that Sovereign was just one ship and it gave both the Citadel and the Alliance an ass whooping before being killed, then I shudder at the idea of more than one of them coming. Plus some of them might even be more powerful than Sovereign is."

"True, but right now they're acting through the Collectors and we still have no idea why they are harvesting humans. Originally the Collectors were known to pay exorbitant sums of money for rare and unique specimens, but now they focused on humanity and are taking thousands of them unlike before when only small groups were taken. The reasons the Alliance can't come to their aid is because, the colonists are in the Terminus Systems, they are busy recovering after the battle at the Citadel, they are so stuck in procedure and bureaucratic red tape. And the REAL blow is that they also think that the Reapers are a myth, even after all that happened."

"Can't there be anyone who agrees with Shepard in the Alliance? I mean there should be SOME people who are onboard with her on this? And there has to be SOME people in the Citadel who are agreeing with her right?"

Miranda thought about it and replied.

"Well, you can say that Councilor Anderson might be onboard with the idea. Before being selected as Councilor by Shepard in the wake of the Battle of the Citadel after saving the current Councilors, he was her mentor and close friend. One can also state that apart from Anderson we also have Admiral Steven Hackett, who after the very same Battle is head of the whole Alliance Navy, and possibly others who are more open minded. However even with their support, we're still ham strung, after the whole affair, Anderson lost most if not all of his clout with the Council and the Alliance Parliament just want to keep things wrapped up and not let it out. There are others, possibly even within the Citadel races as far as we know, along with Shepard's old team. But as for the rest, they are pretty much burying their heads in the sand and trying to ignore everything."

Travis shook his head at that as he could see just where Miranda was going with this. Still he felt that at the very least they should arm the galaxy when the time came.

"I understand that, but still, I think that if I do give the tech to you guys, the Alliance, as bull headed as they are and the Council at least needs to be prepared. The Reapers are a major threat against all life so all the allies you can get are a difference maker here."

Miranda nodded and decided that for now, she could place this train of conversation for a different time. For now, she was going to learn all she could on how these weapons worked and record them. She knew that these weapons would be valuable to fight the Reapers and the Collectors on the ground, but there was also the matter on what would happen in space itself. Miranda knew that the fate of worlds, of whole races and civilizations hinged on orbital supremacy. That was simply because once space supremacy was achieved, then nothing mattered on the ground. Shanxi was proof of that after all.

"In that we can agree, but do you mind if we chat about how these weapons work?"

Travis thought about it and decided that since he was working with Miranda and the others, he might as well be nice and let her see the goods."

"Okay, which weapon do you want to look at first?"

Miranda directed her attention to the nearby Gauss Rifle and spoke to Travis.

"This is the closest thing you have to our Mass Accelerators, may I ask what this is?"

"That? It's the Gauss Rifle, pretty similar indeed to your weapons, but this model is actually a Sniper Rifle Style weapon and does use Mircro-fusion cells to fire. There are actually a number of other variants like this one, some I heard of can actually have their power cell and rounds stored in clips, not like mine which has the rounds in already needs the cell to fire. Some sort of security feature I think. All I know of where this was built was some far away place called…Ger..something."

"Germany?"

"Hmmm…yeah I think so. Last I heard this was used a lot by the Enclave back for their main base got blown to kingdom come. This was highly favored where it was made and like I said, had the rounds and the power cell in a clip, just like my guns. The Brotherhood also uses them and those were more of the assault rifle style weapons, unlike mine which is more of the Sniper Rifle type as I said before. Never got my hands on the other variant and I know there was a pistol version of this somewhere in the Wastelands."

Miranda nodded as she looked at the weapon and soon directed her attention to the Laser Rifle.

This is the more common energy weapon rifle?"

Travis nodded.

"Yep, these were much easier to find and buy as well as parts, and can be made into a sniper rifle. The beam takes less time to travel which is why this makes wondrous work of those hard to hit targets. Problem is the very second you fire this puppy, everyone knows you're there. All they have to do is look for the beam's path and the smell of ozone this always makes."

After a while, there was a call coming in for Miranda so she had to cut her visit short and leave. Allowing Travis to look at her figure as she walked away, making him whistle in appreciation and amusement to himself. He took the time to finish his work and when he was done, he took out from his storage space some whiskey and took a drink and chomped on an apple that he had with him. Once he was done, it was now time for him to go and say hi to Commander Shepard and see what he could learn from her.

Plus he was going to pitch the idea that was created by Mordin to see how it might work for the Alliance and the galaxy in general.

…

Captain's Cabin…

"Yo, Ma'am, you in here?"

Travis knew that being in a woman's personal space was asking for an ass whooping, but he was here for a reason. And the reason in question him naturally wanting to socialize with his Commander to get a feel of her as a person when not trying to shoot the shit out of the bad guys. However, he was sure that he had to be fairly nice with the gear here and decided to look at the fish. He whistled a bit as he looked at the creatures and had to admit that in all his time traveling, fish was hard to spot, only in Zion Canyon or Lake Mead was there large numbers of fish. He had eaten some on one of his travels to San Fran where the Shi lived once on a package delivery he did once. But that was a long time ago and no one bothered to go fishing since water by rule of thumb always attracted all manner of creatures.

He was so entranced by the sight of the fish tank and the fish that he did not notice Shepard walking back into the cabin. She had actually gone to the Armory to check up on Jacob's work on Travis' Power Armor. She was about to comment on him being in her personal space when she saw how…child like he looked while staring at the fish in her tank.

She wondered briefly why that was the case, until she recalled the kind of life he had back in the Wastelands of his Earth. She then decided to get his attention with a slight cough.

"Ahem!"

Travis turned and realized that Shepard was there and he quickly scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry about that Shepard, I was not paying attention because…"

"Of the fish, please tell me you still have SOME fish back on Earth since you look like you never saw fish before."

"I have seen fish…just not these. Anyway, I wanted to talk about something."

"Oh, what about, and why here in my cabin of all places?"

"Well, it's about this battle with the Reapers, I'm not saying anything that implies I'm jumping ship or what, but won't you guys need to get some evidence to get the Council and Alliance on your side? If what I read about the Battle of The Citadel tells me anything, you're going to need a hell of a force to win. I mean it took two fleets to take down one of those Reapers, and you think there's more of them, so you're going to need everyone all on deck to stand even a hair's chance against a fleet of those things."

Shepard sighed at that.

"I know, believe me, I know, but what can I do right now? I'm technically seen as a traitor, working with a known terrorist organization, and even if I did get my status as a Spectre back, they won't believe me. Hell they refuse to believe me, thinking that the Reapers are not real and that all of it is just figments of my imagination, not that I can blame them. I mean if I had not met Sovereign and learned all that I could about the Reapers from the Beacons and Vigil on Ilos, I would have thought I was losing it too."

"But you KNOW they are real?"

"Yeah, I do, and I have to stop them, even if it means working with Cerberus. At least not all of them are bad, and at least Joker, and Chakwas are here, only thing I wish for is to have others here, namely my old team Garrus, Tali, Wrex and Liara. But right now they are doing their own thing."

Travis nodded at that and spoke.

"I see, well I can say at the very least that you are doing the right thing fighting these Collectors and Reapers. If you want, I can also share with your Alliance some of my energy weapons tech and whatnot, hell from the sound of things, you're going to need all the help you can get. Plus according to our hamster on coffee scientist as Kelly puts it, those weapons can be made to scale for ships. They could install plasma and lasers into turrets and robots back in my world so I think they can do the same here for your ships and vehicles, apart from infantry weapons"

Angela looked at Travis with a raised eyebrow.

"Not that I am being ungrateful because I am not, but why are you offering that stuff?"

"Simple, they need to firepower and with the Reapers coming about, I get the feeling anything that can give your people an edge is welcome. Heck, Mordin already took a look at my energy weapons and he thinks it is possible to make them work for your ships with your current technology, though I got lost in transit with what he was saying. Besides, I have heard on my Earth that they did try to make energy weapons for vehicles apart from robots. And I can bet a few ships armed with Plasma, Laser, Gauss, or Tesla weapons can be a major boost right?"

Angela thought it all over and admitted very quickly that such weapons like that would be a major boost to the coming war with the Reapers. She looked at Travis who was placing his arms there and leaning to the wall…just like Kaidan used to.

(No! Kaidan is gone! Travis is NOT Kaidan!)

Travis looked at Shepard with some level of surprise as the Spectre was looking at him with a level of intensity that was the kind one used when looking at someone they knew deeply and cared about. That in itself was odd as he knew full well that neither he nor Angela Shepard had ever met one another. Not that he would not want the chance to meet her on one of his adventures back in the Mojave of course, namely since she had a lot of skills in combat. But it confused him why that even happened in the first place. He then shelved that aside and spoke once more to the woman.

"Anyway Commander, if you want to get the schematics from me, then just drop by my area on the Normandy when you can make the time. I'll get them ready and also make sure to get you some refreshment. Though you might need to drop by Mordin and ask him if you're in the mood for more details."

Angela grinned a bit and replied.

"You're not going to try feeding me any of your Wasteland food are you?"

Travis gave a mock look of disappointment at that.

"You wound me Commander, Wasteland food ain't that bad. Besides, you do have a strong stomach being an N7 and a Spectre right?"

Angela laughed at that and answered back.

"All right, I'll keep that in mind, but right now I think it's best we get some extra down time, in a few hours we're going after Archangel."

"Roger that Ma'am, give me some time to prep my stuff. Any information you can give me on our new recruit?"

Angela gave him the file and he looked it over, and after some time he whistled a bit more.

"Nice, guy's managed to piss off every mercenary band in Omega and has held off for that long? Guy wins medals in my book. But apart from his skills, and actions, it's only stating he's a Turian, isn't there anything else since I doubt Archangel's a name used exclusively by Turians."

"I don't know much about him, but the fact he's pissed off this many merc groups speaks volumes of his abilities. Plus we got wind of another potential recruit, the mercenary bounty hunter Zaeed Massassni."

"He's here already?"

"Yeah, already got himself here due to a job, Illusive Man's already paid for his services so we need to meet up with him. Is there going to be any problems if you meet him?"

"Come again?"

"You said you had assassins from the Legion, even Bounty Hunters come after you more than once, so is having him around going to cause a problem."

Travis grinned a bit more and replied.

"I'm not THAT famous yet am I? I don't there will be problems Commander as long as he does not try to come after me for a bounty."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

There, this should show just how the story is going thus far and is not sleeping in the tank with the fishes. So far this is merely an interlude, but like everything else, everything done here will play a role in the soon to come chapters. Anyhow, this is merely some down time for the crew and also for Travis to get more acclimated in working on a ship. Now we will be recruiting none other than Zaeed and also Archangel, though we all know him as Garrus.

Now Garrus is aware of the romantic relationship between Kaidan and Shepard and knows he is dead, so you can bet that having Travis here is going to cause some trouble. Even more so when you consider what happens when he removes his helmet. Shepard's going to have a lot of explaining to do when Garrus meets Travis and sees him for the first time in the coming chapter. I have no intention yet to have Travis find out about his unique tie to Alicia's former love Kaidan, maybe after Tali is rescued and she is the one to reveal it to Travis.

All the while though, Travis is not going to be blind to how the crew, namely those of Shepard's old team are acting. Sooner or later, he will figure out that something is going on. And that something has to do with him and when he does, it is going to get rather interesting there onboard the Normandy.

As for the possibility of a lemon here…still up in the air so far, though I can leave that up to you and you can send me your ideas in the reviews.

Anyway, enough rambling from me on stuff like this, on to the other Fallout story that is not tied to Halo, and that is none other than The Two Brotherhoods.

After that, we are back to Naruto stories and also my other Mass Effect story which deals with the Justice League.

…

On a side note, I will be taking my LET exams soon so I might be out for the weekend and will be back next week. So if you plan look for me, on the weekends, don't since I will not be there to begin with.


	7. Chapter 7

Mass Effect: Warbringer

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout New Vegas or Mass Effect so don't bring it up again.

Chapter 3

Siege Antics

( ): Thoughts

…

Notice:

For the benefit of those who are not in the know, I have been off grid for a while this month due to Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) hitting my homeland. While my home province is relatively intact it still took a serious amount of hits. Power is still unstable, Internet is not usable unless you have a portable Internet system device, and my home is damaged with half the roof gone.

Thankfully no fatalities on my family and many of my friends and relatives, though I cannot say the same for the numerous victims in Samar and Leyte. They need help in many ways, material, emotional, and more.

They are getting that right now so on behalf of my family, friends, relatives, and to my fellow Filipinos, I wish to thank all of those who provided aid and support to the recovery efforts happening on my homeland.

To those who contributed food, water supplies, medical supplies, clothing, money, prayers, and more, foreigners, locals in other provinces in Mindanao and Luzon or Filipinos living abroad, I thank you, my family thanks you, my fellow Visayans thank you, and the spirit of human generosity and compassion thanks you.

And God thanks you in showing that despite differences in many ways, we are still able to stand together as people and help one another.

Anyway…on with the story.

…

Omega…

As the Normandy's ground crew got out of the ship and back in the suits, Travis decided to switch uniforms, this time wearing his Elite Riot Armor. The armor however was now fully transformed to carry a Kinetic Barrier system and with a bit of tinkering from Travis due to his understanding of the tech with Mordin's help, the system was able to give the same level of protection as the best stock quality Armor. Not to mention is was now fully rated for operations in deep space with filters, a built in air supply, and more. He was thankful for that and was now hefting his Laser RCW with him, and right now he was going to be moving along with Miranda and Shepard.

Jacob remained behind to help with some of the upgrading work on the other gear alongside Mordin so it was just him and Miranda as well as Shepard. There were all sorts of innuendo involved with his current setup he had no idea which would be best to use. But he placed that aside as the three of them were out to look for their newest recruit Zaeed and this Archangel guy.

Travis locked in his helmet and once more spoke.

"Ugh, once again I am happy to be wearing something to filter out the smell. Let's hope we don't make a habit of coming here way too often."

Angela nodded in agreement while Miranda revealed the image of the known mercenary and bounty hunter who they had to hire for this operation.

"I know, let's find this Zaeed first since he's supposed to be easy to recognize, he's supposed to be wearing a very unique set of armor."

Travis looked a bit forward and then spoke.

"I don't think we need to look any further for our new addition to this team."

"Why?"

Travis wordlessly pointed towards the front and when they looked at the direction he was pointing and there was Zaeed, wailing away on a Batarian. Travis could not help but feel some level of disgust at the display as it reminded him way too much of the beatings he had seen slavers, Legion, and all manner of dark hearted people way back in the Wastes, but he figured that if he was in the dossier roster that Shepard had to hire to fight the Collectors, then he had no reason to complain. He therefore swallowed his dislike for the man and allowed both him and Angela to speak out the terms of the contract. Thankfully this meant that he did not need to speak to the man…something about Zaeed reminded him of one person that he knew very well.

The man in question was none other than Joshua Graham, or rather the Burned Man as he was known to the Legion. He recalled just how many in the Legion feared the former Legate, and how even Caesar forbade ANY mention of the man. He recalled seeing one slave literally being burned alive and crucified at the same time just because the man had mentioned the name. And after seeing the darker aspect of Graham during the assault on the White Legs, he could see just why they feared him. Thankfully he was able to change the man before he killed the leader of the White Legs in cold blood and white hot wrath. Joshua was a changed man and at least his tortured soul was finally at peace.

Zaeed had that same aura about him but he had no doubt that it was going to take more than simple words to calm him down. Thankfully it was Shepard who managed to make things less complicated and soon Zaeed was now in their ranks, but that meant that they were going to be a swap in the roster.

Jacob decided to head back to the Normandy and see if he could work on getting spare supplies but decided not to buy any food supplies yet. Apparently like Gardner, Jacob did not rust the food supplies here. Namely in the sense that someone might very well decide to slip poison into the food and he knew from experience that had been done before when he was not yet in Cerberus. Most ships had scanners for scanning supplies for anything out of the ordinary, but this was Omega and more than one criminal had found ways to fool scanners. Miranda was in agreement with the idea and so was Shepard, and even he was all well.

So it was him, Zaeed, and Miranda to take the mission while he once more served as ammunition mule, and carried one of his Laser Rifles. The sight of the weapon made most people look at him in confusion but he did not care much as they decided to head back to Aria to get the next set of data on where Archangel was so they could recruit this Turian vigilante.

…

Afterlife…

Once they got the pass into Aria's place they were not stopped to make it to Aria though this time some of the Asari actually looked at Travis with very suggestive smirks, the former Courier merely gave them a nod each as he wore the Elite Riot Helmet. As they came in, Zaeed kept his face neutral though it seemed that Aria was still able to recognize him. The leader of Omega then gave Travis a once over and spoke.

"Nice change of outfit there Warbringer."

"Thanks."

Aria however focused on talking with Commander Shepard, and Travis was more than willing to let the two women talk it out while Miranda and Zaeed were nearby taking the sights of Omega while the guards kept on their task, but that did not stop a number of them to look at Miranda who despite wearing her Inferno Armor still was attractive even they were aware that she was with Cerberus. Zaeed eyed them carefully as well as he was well aware just what the men were thinking in their heads not that he wasn't the least bit guilty of thinking the same things as the bunch when it came to the female Cerberus Officer who was ignoring their stares at her direction. He might be a ruthless bounty hunter and mercenary, but he can appreciate a beautiful woman like any straight man.

Travis on the other hand were looking at the area carefully since who knew what would happen, though he nodded in greeting when some of the Asari dancers would smile and wink at his direction, or move in a way to get his full attention. He knew that they were not mere pretty faces and bodies so he decided to not take things at face value. But that did not mean he could not remove his helmet and give them a smile and wink at the same time.

The female aliens liked that and it was not long before Angela came back to join them all and they headed off to speak to them about the plan. Apparently the only way for them to get to Archangel without having to fight the mercenary groups who wanted to kill the Turian vigilante, was to allow themselves to become spare forces or free lancers. The three groups were going all out to kill Archangel ever since he and his unit had caused all manner of problems for them. The groups were Eclipse, Blood Pack, and Blue Suns and despite the fact that the Blood Pack had at the time attacked Blue Suns way back in that mission to get Mordin, they hated Archangel enough to willingly set aside their respective beef to kill this long Turian.

Travis could not help but comment at that.

"Man…what did this guy do get them that riled up?"

Miranda commented as well.

"Not rightly sure, but the fact that he had made three of the most recognized merc groups willing to work together is impressive. Along with the fact they are willing to hire outside help makes securing Archangel a priority. Even if he is highly skilled and gifted, he would be overrun soon with this many coming after him."

Angela nodded and spoke.

"Both of you are right in that regard, but let's try not to reveal we're here to get him out. Let's just focus on getting ourselves into the area."

…

As soon as they got into the recruiting station, things went smoothly from here on out, thankfully even if the recruiter, a Batarian saw that Angela and Miranda were women, he saw that they were well armed, equipped, and carried themselves like fighters than pool dancers or strippers. That and the fact he saw both Travis and Zaeed convinced him not to make too many lewd and insulting comments. After some work they moved out, but not before some young kid came in to sign up..

The Spectre however was having none of it and managed to stop the kid and then take his gun and damaged it to the point of being useless. The kid was not the least bit happy but Angela ignored that even though Miranda and Zaeed gave their own thoughts on the matter privately and out of earshot of the kid.

Shepard tossed aside the ruined gun and Travis spoke to her in private.

"Good call there Shepard, that's one kid who's not going to wind up as some poor shmuck used as a meat shield. Hate to see a good life go to waste though how that life is going to be used is still up to him."

Shepard nodded at that and replied.

"Yeah, I've seen enough to know that sending him out into the field is a bad idea, let's go."

…

The team boarded the car and headed off to begin the mission and once they arrived on site, they got all the data they needed from on the Blue Suns who came to meet them. Already they could hear the sounds of weapons fire in front of them and already hearing about the base emplacement of Archangel made it clear to the group that things were about to get interesting. Travis was the first to give his input once they were sure no one was looking since they now had an idea of what the mercs were hiring freelancers for.

"So we're supposed to be the meat shields to distract Archangel while the rest of the mercs try to end him…this sounds too much like how the Legion did things. Sadistic but effective, swarm the target with too many bodies to take out without using up a lot of ammo or thermal clips in this case, then send in your heavy hitters, and with him lacking food and sleep, our potential ally's going to be in a bad way. I'm no slouch but even I would be hard pressed in his position, and technically speaking, he's got better guns than anyone I know back in the Wasteland."

Miranda spoke at that as well.

"No wonder they are hiring anyone foolish enough to do this, they are technically nothing more than targets for Archangel. That gives them the time to weaken Archangel considering they've laid siege to his base for this long and he would no doubt be running out of food and having no sleep as well would indeed make him sloppy and vulnerable at some point. Clever if not a bit too excessive, mechs could be a bit more effective. But if Eclipse are around, then it's a certainty they will use the mechs to engage Archangel alongside their own forces."

Zaeed replied to that as well.

"Yep…and the poor sods apparently have no idea what they signed up for. Still, have to give this Archangel character credit, he picked a good place to set up shop, the base has a perfect defensive position with one main entry and exit point. This forces the attackers on the bridge and be clear targets until they get their brain cells working on finding the right approach if any of them are still alive. But obviously this trick works both ways since if he tried to escape, he'd be surrounded on all sides. Only problem we're going to have is how to get out once we meet him, I doubt the whole bunch are going to just let him and us waltz out of here alive."

Shepard nodded at that.

"True, first though, let's focus on how we can get in, then we'll focus on how we get out. Let's move."

…

As they moved, the group were unaware that someone had been tracking their movements through a sniper rifle.

Only difference was that this shooter had no intent to kill…only intent to confirm something. The shooter directed the scope of a Mantis Sniper Rifle to Shepard and saw her choice of Armor, that being N7 and her gear, and for a brief moment Angela took off her helmet to check on it, the shooter saw her face. The shooter looked away from the scope and if one was close enough to hear the Turian speak…one word came out.

"Shepard…"

The shooter nodded and spoke once more to himself as despite the helmet hiding the face it was obviously male Turian. And he seemed pleased to see the resurrected Spectre. When he had spotted the new arrivals he decided to take the risk and shoot at them to lessen the number of idiots he had to fight, even if he was suffering from hunger, and lack of sleep. But the second he saw the gear…everything changed and he looked intently to make sure his hunger and sleep deprived mind was not yanking, as humans put it, his chain.

Now he was sure who it was…

"Looks like the odds have just changed… and looks like you and I are going to see each other again after all dad."

…

As they moved out through the merc FOB, they made sure to keep their eyes open for anything that can help them. They made sure to do so discreetly since they still had to give the impression that they were just cannon fodder, and not here to help Archangel in any way. They made their first pass at the Eclipse base and learned that the Salarian leading the team not only wanted to end Archangel for damaging his business ventures, but also for killing his brother. The Salarian carried himself like a soldier so no doubt was former STG from the way he acted, though not obviously as emotionally controlled. Then again, losing a trusted sibling can unhinge most people, even if one had to see the whole thing first hand.

Shepard soon took notice of a datapad and covertly signaled for Travis to swipe it while remaining in his Stealth Field using the special Assassin Suit which she told him to use on the off chance he needed to go into stealth mode. Travis went for it and managed to pilfer the thing and find a corner to hide in and then switch his Assassin Suit for his Elite Riot Gear once more, and with that his Stealth field vanished and he was rejoined by the others while the mercs were way to busy talking to notice. Shepard turned to Travis at this exact moment and spoke to him.

"Found anything useful?"

"Oh yeah, we're going to be getting some favors now."

The others looked at the pad and Zaeed commented at that.

"Slick idea…risky but possible if these bone heads could pull it off. And with the current mess the plague left this place Aria might be caught off guard."

Shepard nodded and replied.

"Not anymore, I might not have much love for Aria, but at least she is willing to listen and this might help us in the long run."

As they moved on with the mission they managed to find their way to the area where the Blue Suns were operating after chatting with the Blood pack. Their leader Garn apparently had an axe to grind with Archangel and they all knew that the Blood Pack leader was going to be a problem. A problem that would have to be dealt with at a later date and not before, it did not take long for them to face the apparent leader of the whole merc alliance in the Blue Suns compound. Apparently Zaeed knew this character and the guy knew Zaeed likewise so at least that spared them some time as they were directed elsewhere to someone willing to talk, and that someone apparently was his second in command.

…

Travis shook his head at the idea that the Blue Suns cooked up as this reminded him way too much of how Caesar's Legion usually operated again. The new recruits and less experienced up front while the more experienced ones came in to cause more damage, and then the elites made the rear. Effective as it was, it usually meant that the attrition rate for the Legion was pretty damned high, and the very few who made it and lived tens through that kind of hell were the baddest of the bad. Hanlon made that very clear when he and the old Ranger talked, and from his own personal experience. However the idea of sending these poor sods off like cannon fodder left a BAD taste in his mouth. They were better off using their full might to pin down one lone foe and then attack en masse to finish him off.

But he said nothing, even more so when he listened to what the second in command of the Blue Suns filled them in on Archangel. He was really starting to like this guy, took a ton of balls to attack the leader of this outfit in his own home. Reminded him of the times he personally shot Benny with his own gun in his room and the time he sent Caesar and his idiot council to the skies via C-4 assisted takeoff, ah good times. Lucky he wore his Elite Riot Helmet so no one saw that shit eating grin on his face. He could also understand the woman's less than stellar liking for Archangel.

(Attractive woman too…definitely the killing you while looking damn good doing it type. So like Shepard and Lawson…shame she's on the other side.)

Travis put those thoughts aside and focused more on getting ready for the mission to come before him and the others as they now had an idea of the overall opposition before them and what exactly were they going to be up against once they got to Archangel.

…

As soon as they left the command post, they went to meet with the second in command of the whole bunch. One tech Sergeant and Shepard decided to talk to the person herself while the rest of them waited outside though not in an area where Archangel could get them with a sniper rifle shot.

The Courier turned to see a number of the mercs looking at Miranda who was no doubt aware of them leering at her but cared very little for them. Travis personally knew that Miranda was not to be messed around with but it seemed that none of the mercs were paying attention to the silent hint to leave her alone. One of them tried to get fresh with her, not that he could blame the man, but he got what was coming to him when Miranda not only gave him a biotic bitch slap to the face, but landed one hell of a kick in the nuts, biotically charged for good measure.

The man screamed in pain and was holding his family jewels while Zaeed winced but busted a gut laughing while Travis shook his head at that and also busted a gut laughing. Some of the mercs took offense to that and were about to raise their weapons when Travis quickly took out his Avenger and Zaeed got out his own Avenger and warned the mercs off, even more so when Miranda unleashed her Biotic field and even took out her Carnifex for good measure against the bunch before them.

That made them back down for now and that was something that they needed since the whole team was getting ready for the mission ahead. As soon as they were given the all clear the mercs rushed up to attack the position Archangel was in, and the Blue Suns Sergeant, one Cathka if Travis heard it right went back to work…

Only for Shepard to covertly take what appeared to be some sort of device that arced electricity and stab the Batarian in the back. Travis winced a bit as he watched the guy dance with arcs of energy cooking him. Miranda looked at Shepard with a curious look and she replied.

"Had to be done, if they got this gunship at full power, we'd have a hell of an extract and possibly some of us are going to Med Bay."

Travis had to agree, cruel to be sure, but he had learned in his time to know that you have to be ready to do some things that might look cruel now, but can save lives later. Even more so if it was their lives, he never fought a gunship before, but after seeing that bomber plane in the Second Battle for Hoover Dam blast Legion formations and positions to bits and the Enclave Remnants' Vertibird rip apart enemy troops, he respected air power. The thought of facing that Gunship at full strength therefore was not something he was keen on experiencing too early.

Zaeed nodded at that.

"Good call there Shepard, but we've better quit stalling, your Archangel is going to need help soon."

They all agreed and soon made their move, Shepard caught a glimpse of one merc who tried to fire several shots, but got shot by Archangel and the Turian appeared to be wearing what appeared to Turian Heavy Armor. Turians normally didn't wear heavy armor due to their need to balance protection with agility and the ability to aim. The fact that the Turian was carrying a Sniper Rifle was impressive, making Angela more convinced that the Turian vigilante was definitely worth hiring.

…

Once they all were on the bridge, they quickly fired their weapons on the mercs and since no one else from the three merc groups could see them, they could do so without revealing that they were here to hire Archangel and not kill him outright. The mercs were cut down, but not before one of them had managed to cry out.

"They're with Archangel! Ki…"

Travis quickly fired a burst of laser energy into the face of the mercenary fodder before them, the lasers instantly fried the mercenary before he could finish. Zaeed saw that and whistled at the sight of the weapon and commented even while he and the others were shooting up the rest of the mercs with the same precision that all skilled fighters had.

"Now that is damned interesting!"

Travis merely nodded as he fired several more bursts with his upgraded Laser Rifle, He made the move to cover and quickly took out his fully upgraded Plasma Defender and fired two more bolts into the next merc. The end result was the smell of burning ceramic and flesh as Zaeed, Miranda, and Shepard to come in and clear out the remaining mercenaries, namely one the one trying to activate the bomb. The four of them soon moved forward as Travis quickly got out his fully Plasma Rifle and fired a plasma bolt into the chest of another one of the mercs.

The man screamed out in pain briefly before Travis fired yet another plasma bolt into the chest again, the plasma cooked the flesh and also the organs as the man fell dead. Travis moved to cover from the incoming fire as Shepard fired her Avenger into the next mercenary coming in. The rounds tore into the attacker while both Miranda and Zaeed fired at the last mercenary and soon they moved to the upper level. To secure the area and make sure that no other mercenary might be up there to kill Archangel.

They soon trooped up with Shepard in the lead since she was going to be the one to recruit Archangel.

…

"Archangel?"

Travis watched as the Turian gave the universal sing for some silence as he aimed his sniper rifle, Travis's ears were sharp enough to not only hear the firing of the round, but to also hear the undeniable sound of an organic head being hit and a dropping body. The former Courier along with Angela, Zaeed and Miranda watched as the Turian sat down and took off his helmet and sat down. This allowed Travis to see the Turian, who had some sort of visor and blue marking on his face.

The Turian was totally unknown to him, but apparently not to Angela as he saw her eyes light up through the visor of her N7 Helmet. And it seemed to the Mojave resident that the Turian also recognized Shepard as well as he spoke.

"Shepard. I thought you were dead."

Angela spoke with a smile as she recognized the Turian.

"Garrus!"

Travis was quick to recognize the Turian from what he had read on Angela Shepard as well as what he learned from Miranda, Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec detective and Turian Hierarchy military. He had joined Angela on her mission to stop Saren when the rogue Spectre allied with the Geth two years ago. He was said to be one of the best sharpshooters in the band Shepard commanded apart from herself, and was skilled in technology as well. He kept his mouth silent for a bit as the two old friends began to chat with one another.

The conversation turned to how Garrus came to Omega to deal with the criminals here in the station. Not exactly hard to do when there were criminals in every nook and cranny here in Travis's mind. And soon he heard the concern and worry laced in Angela's voice when she asked how Garrus was holding up. Even if he was no expert on Turian actions and gestures, Travis could see the exhaustion on the alien's face as plain as day. And even he had to admit that he too had been through times when sleep, water, and food deprivation loomed over his hide more than he cared to like.

He kept himself focused on thinking on how they were going to get out of this mess, he had no doubt that once the rest of the mercs figured out that they were not mere freelancers, those guys were going to come in fast and hard. There were some options but those will have to wait when he noted that the Turian, Garrus was looking at him and he wagered a guess that since he had his Elite Riot Helmet on, his face was hidden.

"Right, hold on."

Travis removed his helmet and gave the Turian a smile and a bit of a nod.

"Hey, name's Travis…Travis Marlowe."

However, that was when he noticed that the Turian was not responding to his greeting at all. In fact…he swore the Turian was looking at him as if he knew him.

…

On the other side of the deck…

Garrus Vakarian had seen all manner of things in his time in C-Sec, and all the way to his time with Angela, along with his time on Omega before a certain traitor screwed him over and got his whole team killed. But this was the first time he saw something that, what was that saying Humans used once in a while? Right, caught him with his pants down, that was the expression humans used, though there would have been others that argued that Turians did not wear pants that much. The Turian was wide eyed as he looked at Travis who did not wear his helmet and before he could think about this a bit more rationally, he spoke out on a low tone.

"Kaidan?"

Travis raise an eyebrow but not the way most would think, he did not hear Garrus' words, but it was obvious from the way the Turian was looking at him, the guy seemed to know him. And he KNEW that there was no way he and this Garrus ever met before, let alone spend enough time together for the Turian to act in that fashion. Before he could ask what happened to the Turian and why was he acting like that, Shepard spoke to him in a tone that he knew brooked no argument.

"Travis, can you head down and get rid of those bombs?"

Travis decided to leave as he knew that this was a serious conversation so getting involved was not a good idea. He however decided that he should not be alone doing this, and just MAYBE get some answers covertly.

"All right but do you mind if I ask for Miranda to come with me and help me with that? I have no idea how these bombs work so there's no way I am fiddling with them and wind up blowing everyone here after we had to fight our way to your friend here."

Angela agreed and Miranda agreed with that and soon the two of them left. Angela then turned to speak to Garrus who did not waste time in getting her to the far corner of his base while Zaeed watched the bridge unwilling to get involved as he took out his Incisor Sniper Rifle to watch the bridge.

"Shepard…I have seen a lot of things, things such as the Thorian, Ilos, and of course the Reaper Sovereign. I thought I have seen every crazy event this galaxy can throw at me ever since then…but did I just see Kaidan Alenko come back from the dead with you?!"

"It's not Kaidan Garrus…"

"Not Kaidan?! Spirits Shepard, whoever that was, he looked AND sounded like Kaidan! What's going on?! I thought he…"

Angela quickly glared at Garrus and spoke gently after a moment or two.

"Believe me when I say that I am having a hard time about this myself, but I can tell that Travis is not Kaidan, he might look and sound the same but he is not. Look, I'll tell you all about it once we get out of here."

Garrus was not so sure but seeing that there was not much left to do before Eclipse, Blue Sun, and Blood Pack forces came charging in, he had to place his thoughts aside. However he decided to give Angela something, one of his people managed to score a crate of Vindicator Battle Rifles that were originally meant for the Blue Suns for their protection rackets, now these were abut to find themselves in better hands. Sure he respected the Avenger, but the Vindicator would be handy here.

"All right, but take one of the Vindicators I have here, I got my own anyway. But you owe me an explanation Shepard on what is going here."

"Yeah, but believe me, it's going to make your head spin."

"And the fact that I am talking to you who was supposed to be dead for two years isn't making MY head spin as it is?"

Angela laughed a bit and took the Rifle Garrus had with him, hefted it a bit and got herself ready for the soon to come battle.

…

Below, Travis was none too pleased by what was going on but he focused on disabling the bombs alongside Miranda. They were able to deactivate the bomb safely, but soon he was able to spot that the mercs were coming in. The same could be said for Miranda as she quickly spoke to her communications link in her Inferno Armor.

'Shepard, we have the Eclipse coming in!"

"Is the bomb out of commission Miranda?"

"Yes, we've finished disarming it and taking defensive positions now!"

"Got it, you and I will hold the first floor, Zaeed, Garrus and Travis will hold the upper floor with all of them being Snipers. Travis, get your butt up here now!"

Travis smirked and nodded as he got back on his helmet.

"Roger that Shepard, I am on the way right now, time to see if we can't give these mercs a proper welcome."

As soon as he got there to the second, Shepard moved past him but not before giving him his marching orders.

"Like I said, Miranda and I will secure the first floor while you, Garrus, and Zaeed provide sniper fire, I'll contact Jacob to have the Normandy's Medical Bay to get ready for any incoming casualties. Let's not take chances here, I'm not a fan of last stands."

Travis nodded and he moved to support both Garrus and Zaeed and readied his Laser RWC, the Turian still looked a little uneasy with him around but that was placed out of his mind as the mercs came. As for him, the former Courier was now REALLY confused, but like Garrus and Zaeed he got ready for the fight ahead of them. They did not have to wait long as more of the mechs came towards them and Travis was quick to start shooting this time with his Gauss Rifle…sure the weapon as a one shot each weapon with reload soon after, but he was not going to complain just yet.

The mechs were being thinned by the precise shooting of the snipers as Garrus and Zaeed were all crack shots and Travis was no slouch himself. But soon the mechs were being supplemented by Eclipse mercs and that meant that the real hard work was well on the way for all of them.

The first wave was soon taken out of the game though and they all took the chance to reload their weapons and Travis decided to place aside his Gauss Rifle and took out his Laser RWC since there was no doubt that swarm tactics were now in order for the mercs. But with their mechs out of the way and no longer able to serve as meat or rather metal shields with a gun and legs to take the heat, the mercs were easy targets.

…

"FIRE!"

Angela's commands were easily heard by everyone through the communications net and soon the incoming Eclipse forces came into firing range of the weapons of the Normandy Team. Travis was currently with Garrus and Zaeed while Miranda and Shepard was at the lower floor to secure it from incoming assault. Travis took out his Laser RWC and began to unleash a stream of laser bolts right into the incoming force. The combined firepower quickly made short work of the first attackers as one Salarian was hit by several slugs and then a laser bolt cut into his throat, actually cutting the head off cleanly.

The next were a pair of humans who came in fast and hard, right into the firing line of the former Courier who fired another stream of rapid firing laser bolts from his Laser RWC. He soon spotted a few more and quickly took out a Plasma Grenade and tossed the odd looking device. Garrus was quick to see the weapon and briefly wondered just what was that odd looking grenade supposed to do. He got his answer as two Eclipse mercs were in the blast range and a powerful concussion blast came out along with a blast of super heated plasma. Their ceramic armor was not rated at all for a blast like that and soon they were screaming in pain as the plasma consumed their armor and literally cooked them alive.

Travis was not done yet as he reused his Laser RWC and unleashed a hailstorm of red energy lances to cut down more of the opposition and soon several more of the alien mercenaries were cut down and left to bleed and scream in pain.

And what exactly was Garrus' reply to both the Laser RWC and the Plasma Grenade?

"I WANT one of those!"

Zaeed responded to that.

"Well get in line mate, I want first crack at that thing!"

Travis said nothing but grinned as he soon took out his Plasma Defender and fired two more bolts into the attackers, one Asari woman got a blast right in the heart and was screaming in pain and shock at the weapon impacting her armor, melting through it and soon burning her flesh and dropping her down hard. He quickly aligned the weapon and fired another at a LOKI mech and actually blew it apart as the plasma bolt consumed the head of the mech and it dropped down before blowing up. He moved his weapon to fire at the next LOKI, earning him yet another direct hit on the target's head. The mech blew up before he fired another Plasma bolt to slam right into the…family jewels of a human Eclipse Vanguard.

Zaeed could not help but whistle as the man was now on the ground howling in pain as the Plasma reduced his…family jewels into ash.

"Now I know THAT hurts bad."

It was here that Miranda commented while she was firing her SMG with an incredulous tone.

"Did I just see that?"

Angela nodded and replied with a wicked tone.

"Yes you did, we seriously have got to get some of those."

Miranda wordlessly agreed and she took her Machine Pistol to town to fire at the enemy while Angela began to use her newly acquired Vindicator. T he team began to shoot down more incoming Eclipse mercs that came at them in waves, several of the heavy weapons users came out to attack, forcing her and Miranda to move from cover to cover as the missiles came at them, but soon those got hit by Zaeed, Garrus, and Travis as the man unleashed several more accurate blasts with his Laser Rifle. The man then took out a pair of plasma grenades and tossed them into several of the mercs coming in to attack.

His Plasma Grenades quickly made a mess of the mercs and the ones who were breathing were finished off by him, Garrus, and Zaeed with their own weapons He spotted a few more and decided to take out the Laser Rifle and Garrus looked at that weapon in confusion. That however did not last as he saw a lance of laser energy come from the weapon and drill it's way into an incoming merc and burn through him. And another female merc came in and spoiling for a fight.

Only for her to lose her head…literally as the laser blast actually reduced her head into nothing but dust…and she was the one who had tech armor on as well. That convinced the Turian that this was no simple arsenal this guy was using, Travis removed the obvious power cell from his weapon, pocketing away the spent cell and loading the next one into the weapon and then firing another blast of the laser rifle which cut through the barriers of the tech armor worn by another member of Eclipse and sliced deep into the chest.

The team soon spotted a certain Salarian who was now ordering a mech into the fight. Garrus was also quick to recognized the Salarian and knew that this was about to get bad. Even more so when the mech in question was not a LOKI mech either leading the last strike of the Eclipse mercenaries, but the more heavy duty assault mech that he knew that would soak up a lot of firepower before falling.

"Damn it, they got a YMIR with them!"

Zaeed replied with a smug look.

"No worries there Archangel, your commander has a special surprise in store for that tin-can and it's owner."

Travis then replied as he took out his newest weapon, his Gatling Laser and it was ready to unleash hell.

"And if that don\t work, my little friend is going to tear that sucker to pieces."

Garrus eyed the massive weapon and spoke with shock in his voice.

"Where in the name of the Spirits did you get that and let alone hide it?! And what is it?"

"You can thank my Pip-boy for that, makes me a walking armory. This is a Gatling Laser, all armed with Max Charge EMC Cells. With this, I am going to REALLY rain some hell."

Garrus could not shake his head and reply.

"I don't know where the hell Shepard found you, but if that's what you're packing as a weapon, then you're welcome with us anytime."

"Thanks, now let's take a look at the carnage eh? I think our Salarian friend is about to find out his little mech's not on his side anymore."

And true enough the Atlas turned on the Eclipse right on schedule and already the swarm of Eclipse mercs going in behind it in the belief that it was going to be a major asset as well as meatr shield as it were, were soon getting slaughtered by their own creation. As none of them had expected the Atlas to be sabotaged back in their base, their weapons were not meant to fight Heavy mechs. The Salarian leader roared in anger as he dove to cover from the missile that fired and reduced two of his team into exploding meat sausages. Travis and the others knew that it was going to get bad once they somehow took control of the mech but at least this gave them time to rearm and prepare.

Garrus whistled at the sight and spoke.

"Damn Shepard, did you sabotage that thing?"

"Yep!"

"Thought so, let's hope it lasts long enough or doesn't turn."

Travis grinned however as he took out a detonator deciding to reserve his Gatling Laser for later since he did something much earlier behind Shepard's back.

"Don't worry me and the ol' Hellbox will take care of that, just a little surprise I cooked up. Better save the cells for the real opposition."

The others were not going to wait for long to find out what Travis had said as the YMIR mech had slaughtered many of the mercs but had now aimed at them and heading forward. The leader of Eclipse, despite the distance grinned sadistically and moved forward with the surviving mercs moving in for the kill. However Travis pressed the device and revealed that there were strapped explosives on the mech hidden in some corners. All of which had been ignored by the mercs when they brought it in when they launched the assault.

The explosions tore sections of the mech apart and severely damaged it's core systems and soon it powered up and exploded with one hell of a bang. The Salarian leader of Eclipse was sent flying back with injuries while the mercs behind the mech were just torn apart. Garrus quickly aimed his Sniper Rifle at the downed Salarian and fired one round right through the head. As he reloaded the weapon he sighed and gave a look of appreciation.

"That's one pain in the neck down."

Soon everyone took a chance to recover from the lull of battle and got together while Miranda spoke to Travis.

"What was that you just pulled?"

Travis grinned behind his Elite Riot Helmet and replied.

"I figured we would have to face that thing sooner or later, so I stayed behind a bit and started stuffing C-4 into some of the areas of the mech. I took some time learning how to make C-4 the way that could allow it to fit into the crack and openings I could find. Guess it worked and we can save my little friend for bigger fish to fry."

Miranda shook her head and had to admit that the trick was pretty useful, while Zaeed was nodding in approval as well.

"Nice trick there kid, sneaky and utterly unexpected, but I never thought anyone used C-4 in this day and age. Stuff like that belongs in a museum nowadays."

"I'm just full of surprises ain't I? Anyhow, what's the deal with that Salarian leader?"

"He and his gang shipped a lot of tainted E-zero when I was still in C-Sec. Half of all confiscated shipments I dealt with years back came from him. I can't even begin to guess how many lives he and his people messed up, but at least he's out of the picture."

Shepard nodded at that and spoke as well.

"That leaves Blood Pack and Blue Suns, but I doubt they are just going to go charging in like Eclipse did. Even with Vorcha and Krogan on their side a direct charge on that bridge is going to be very risky. And I doubt that they are just going to go in charging, Krogan or not."

Garrus nodded.

"Yeah, but they are not going to be idle for long…question is what's their move for today."

They got their answer when a muffled explosion was heard and then they saw sparks coming from one of the doors. That was enough to tell them that some serious work was being done on the sealed doors in the bottom of Garrus's base. The former Courier listened in and knew that if the Blood Pack managed to enter the base, in this range, they would be in serious trouble.

…

Shepard looked at the situation and quickly decided to head down there and secure the tunnels before the whole mess got bad. But she knew very well that she could not leave Garrus alone, especially if it was the Blood Pack after him. That leader of theirs had a less than friendly plan involving her long time friend and no way was she going to let that nut get his hands on Garrus. That means that she would have to leave some of her team behind.

"Garrus, I'll leave Zaeed here to help you secure the area, Miranda, Travis, you're with me."

Zaeed smirked and replied.

"Don't worry Shepard, I'll help your friend here deal with the mess."

Garrus shook his head in amusement at that.

"Right, this is going to be interesting, better head down as fast as you can Shepard, if Garn's with them you can bet this is going to get ugly."

"Remember Saren's little shop of horrors back on Vrmire Garrus? That was worse than this bunch."

…

In the Tunnels…

Garrus was not kidding, the very second the three of them came down to secure the first tunnel, several Vorcha came right at them. Travis quickly switched to his Gatling Laser and unleashed a hailstorm of plasma bolts while Miranda quickly used Lift on several of them to send them away before shooting them dead. Shepard quickly cut down a few more befpre they spotted a Krogan coming in for the attack.

Travis shouted at both Miranda and Angela as he focused his attention on the massive Krogan.

"I'LL HOLD THEM OFF! GET TO THE SHUTTER CONTROLS!"

Miranda and Angela nodded and quickly Miranda fired a powerful bolt of Biotic energy at an incoming Vorcha armed with a flamethrower and when it was sent into the air, Angela fired her Vindicator at the exposed fuel tank. The end result was a massive fireball that spilled large amounts of fuel on the rest of the Blood Pack. The stench was bad but both Miranda and Angela were quick to move and take advantage as the Cerberus officer fired out a powerful Warp Blast into the chest of one Krogan before she fired a burst of SMG rounds into the now torn over armor. The Krogan roared and attacked, intent on tearing into Miranda, but Travis quickly spotted that and switched to his GRA Plasma Defender and fired several bursts into the creature and it tore into the chest and killed both hearts and he went back to his Gatling Laser while Miranda fired several more bursts as Angela pressed the shutter controls.

Angela soon cried out.

"I need clips!"

Travis knew it was his cue and moved forward to supply Angela with some Thermal Clips, as he got closer he quickly moved aside Gatlin Laser and take out his Plasma Rifle and handed clips to Angela and she soon reloaded her Vindicator as he moved back to cover her as the shutter was now closing fast. Miranda covered them with her new Carnifex Pistol as her SMG was low on clips. He quickly got to her while covering Angela a bit more until she got to cover and he gave her spare clips as well.

Miranda was pleased and reloaded her Shuriken Machine Pistol and fired a combined burst with Angela to kill the next Vorcha coming in before it could interfere with the Shutters closing. Once that was done, Garrus soon spoke to them.

"Nice work down there Shepard, but we still have two more to take care of!"

"How is it up there Garrus?"

"Holding strong and at least the backup is good but we still won't be fine until the Blood Pack have nowhere else to go."

"Got it! Hold your position Garrus!"

"Do I have anywhere else to be?"

…

They moved to the other shutter, but this one had them moving over obstacles like pipes up to their waste and the Vorcha were not making that any easier. Sure the pipes gave thwem cover, but it did the same for the damned pests, This forced him to switch to his GRA Tri Laser Rifle or rather the Laser Shotgun, and he had managed to save Miranda from being scorched by an overeager Vorcha with a flame thrower near the corner due to the fact he smelled burning fuel. Something he learned to smell from a distance due to his own experiences with flamethrower wielding nuts. He quickly introduced a point blank laser bolt burst into the face of the Vorcha, making it scream in pain and as soon as it dropped the weapon, he quickly introduced another in the fuel tank that made it explode just as he covered Miranda to prevent the fuel from frying her even if in armor.

Miranda gave him a nod of respect as they all moved towards the shutter control with Travis providing long range support this time with his Laser Rifle as he covered both Miranda and Angela with Angela moving to the shutter control with Miranda firing with her Shuriken Machine Pistol. The Spectre quickly managed to toss in a grenade into the group of Vorcha and wounded them as Travis fired several more blasts, He quickly turned to Shepard and shouted.

"Shepard! Use this!"

He took out his GRA Tri-Beam Laser Rifle and gave it to her along with some spare Micro Fusion Cells and she took it along with sliding back on her back the Vindicator Battle Rifle. Travis also played aside his Laser Rifle and took out the Avenger Assault Rifle he had and fired several more shots to cover Miranda who moved to secure the shutter. As soon as it began to lock down, Travis managed to fire out a Plasma grenade that detonated, injuring the incoming forces as the three of them held the line carefully. One Vorcha was about to come through, but Travis quickly fired a blast of Lasers as both Miranda and Angela acted at the same time.

Miranda fired a Biotic bolt to send the Vorcha flying back while Angela ssed another grenade that was caught in the blast and that sent the Vorcha flying into his fellows as the grenade tore him apart and severely wounded the others severely. Soon the door closed and once they got the shutter secured Garrus soon spoke to Shepard.

"Nice work down there in sealing the second shutter Shepard! The Blood Pack are going to have a harder time now…but be careful of the last shutter."

'What does that mean Garrus?"

"The next shutter is in a very large storage hanger, that's where the bulk of the Blood Pack are going to hit and hit hard. I'm tracking a large number of Blood Pack moving in now. And I got no doubt they got Varren as well."

Shepard groaned at the news of Varren. No doubt recalling the time Balak and his bunch unleashed those war beasts on that asteroid on Terra Nova.

"Great…and in a hanger no less."

"Yeah, that place will be hard for you to move in close enough for the shutter."

"Let me figure something out, keep yourself alive Garrus."

"Will do!"

Angela then looked at Travis and spoke to him as they reached the last area to where the shutter control was,

"I'm hoping you still have plenty of power left for those weapons?"

Travis nodded.

"Yep, more than enough power in my guns but let's hope that we can make it in time before the rest of the funny bunch show up. I'm already thinking that I'm better off using Red Glare in a place like that though in the initial volley if we're in a large place."

"Red Glare?"

"You'll see what I mean in a minute Shepard, and not a moment too soon! Incoming!"

…

Travis's warning was right on the money as the three of them spotted a large number of Blood Pack coming in, and sure enough there were Varren as well. Travis took out Red Glare and soon aimed the weapon at the largest pack of Krogan. The former Courier unleashed a hailstorm of high explosive missiles that shredded a large number of the Blood Pack coming in while Miranda and Angela were moving in to attack. They moved for cover while Travis quickly reloaded another canister of rockets, only this was his Hive selection and he soon unleashed a swarm of missiles into the next bunch. The sounds of the missiles flying and exploding on contact were pretty bad but the results were all good as Miranda and Angela picked off the stragglers that made the mistake of being too close for comfort.

Travis quickly loaded one more canister of rockets and quickly aimed at the next batch of targets while Miranda and Angela closed the gap. He looked to see that the Blood Pack were really doing all they could to close the gap and he had to move in for the kill himself. He then decided to use his Laser Gatling Gun and soon he unleashed streams of laser fire on the incoming Blood Pack as both women were now closer to the shutter control.

They soon got the shutter's counter to start but had to hold off the swarm of Blood Pack Varren, Vorcha, and Krogan before it could close. Miranda got to cover and so did Shepard but Travis was still willing to let himself be exposed to serve as a more viable target. And with his Gatling Laser unleashing a hailstorm of blood red beams that cut down their forces or even reduced some to ash, he was certainly up there on the kill list of the Blood pack.

His shields flared and his newly installed Shield meter into his Pip-boy courtesy of Jacob was showing that his shields would not last long. But he was willing to keep it up for as long as he needed to and he managed to reach both Angela and Miranda in their respective cover to provide them with spare thermal clips. The shutter soon closed and Garrus called in.

"Great work Shepard, that's the last one…but apparently Garn and the rest of his goon squad have made it here! I'm going to need your help over here pretty soon since garn and his bunch have us outnumbered!"

Angela nodded and replied as she, Miranda, and Travis beat feet back to Garrus.

"On the way Garrus, that guy is not going to take you down that easily! Not on my watch!"

…

The team arrived and Angela quickly shot one of the Vorcha in sight range as Miranda and Travis came to the field and picked their own targets. The Blood pack lived up to being very tough bastards to kill, but the three were not giving up as Angela switched from her Vindicator Rifle to her Katana Shotgun while Miranda and Travis followed with the Cerberus Officer using her SMG and Travis moving to use his GRA Tri-Beam Laser Rifle for close battles.

They had to face a number of Krogan who were apparently younger but just as tough as older and more experienced Krogan, Miranda used her Biotics to knock one aside while Angela blasted the younger alien right in the face. Travis fired his own blast of laser fire on his own target, and then moved to using one of his Cosmic Knives and slashed the throat of the one coming at him before burying the weapon into the face of the alien fighter. He next one tried to shoot him in the back but Angela blasted the Krogan by the hump, forcing it to roar in anger and turn to try and rend Angela Shepard limb from limb!

SLISH!

Only for Travis to take out one of his Cosmic Knife Spears and stab the Krogan in the back of the head and also between the plates there before him, to give either a killing blow or to distract it from harming Shepard. The move was enough to make the Krogan howl in pain and rage as it tried to reach for the weapon. This allowed Angela to blast it with her shotgun and Travis to yank out the weapon and then stab the Krogan in the face.

They all moved on to get to Garrus and Zaeed and soon saw that Zaeed was busy in a fight with one of the Krogan and Garn was now fighting with Garrus. There were three other Krogan coming in guns blazing, forcing the three to get to cover and focus their firepower on each of their attackers. Miranda quickly fired out a powerful Biotic bolt to send one of the Krogan flying back and allowing her to shoot it right in the face itself. Angela quickly charged in and managed to use the enhanced strength she gained from the augmentations done to her body as well as her adrenaline kicking in to knock the Krogan's own shotgun aside and she introduced her own weapon into the face and fired out a blast of Armor Piercing modded ammunition into the face.

Travis on the other hand moved to using his Plasma Defender to fire several blasts of plasma at close range and then after doing so, he took out his Ripper and slashed hard and deep. The Krogan roared briefly until the weapon cut the throat open and then Travis used it to hit the Krogan's spine and nerve system, killing it. The Courier soon moved in and there before him was Garn and the Krogan was really giving as much as he could to rend Garrus apart.

…

Travis was the closest and decided to get involved and took out the still present M-* Avenger in his arsenal and fired a full burst into the armor of the Blood Pack Leader. Apparently however the guy had used his earned credits to get some serious heavy armor protection since the rounds did little good on it. That however did not stop Travis from unloading more streams of fire from the weapon and soon Garn turned to fight him but Travis quickly placed the weapon aside and took out his Plasma Rifle and fired a blast right into the chest of the Krogan's full armor and then another bolt to melt the armor away.

That appeared to be the key to weakening the attacks Garn had as Garrus managed to recover and focus himself into ending Garn for good, just as the others came in, but none of them could fire due to the close proximity between Garn and Travis as any stray shot could tag Travis and leave him vulnerable to attack from the obviously enraged Krogan.

The Krogan roared at Travis and tied to bash his head in with a blow with his shotgun, Travis quickly evaded to blow and then took out his Two Step Bye-Bye Power Fist and slammed the blow right into the face of the Krogan. The blow actually unleashed a spray of blood from the Krogan's mouth and Travis followed that up by switching from the Power Fist to a Power Sledge which he quickly powered up and smashed hard into the face of the Krogan.

The sound of crushed bone plates, pulped flesh was heard as Travis launched a spin kick to make the Krogan back away, his augmentations and implants helped him in landing the blow o get some space between him and his foe. The Krogan roared in rage as he quickly took out of one of his Incendiary Grenades and tossed it right into the wounds. The creature roared in great pain this time around as he quickly took out his Laser RCW and unleashed the whole MC Charge into the creature's chest and face.

The end result was the Krogan's ruined armor and flesh being reduced to charred meat and soon the one they met back in their little infiltration was about to die, even more so when Angela and Garrus fired their rifles into him at the same time along with Zaeed, and Miranda. Soon the creature fell down and Garrus sighed as he cradled his Sniper Rifle and seemed to finally have a large amount of weight taken off of his chest.

"Finally we took out Garn…this was one seriously tough son of a bitch."

Angela raised her eyebrow at that.

"Heard about how he was able to hold on after you caught him off guard one time until he got his gang on you."

"Yep, he wasn't kidding, Krogan regenerate fast, but Garn's a real freak of nature Shepard, he regenerated so fast I swear I literally saw his flesh knit right back up as I shot him. I almost had him but I was running out of thermal clips and his gang showed up. Had to leave before I got swarmed but at least he's gone since he's got a sheet of crimes on him as long as the Ward arms on the Citadel."

Travis nodded and replied.

"That leaves only the Blue Suns, what's the plan since I doubt that they're going to be quiet for long."

Garrus looked out and replied.

"They relied on Eclipse Commandos and Mechs, they're gone, and the same can be said for the Blood Pack. I think we can take…"

Shepard was about to agree when she spotted the Gunship that she had sabotaged earlier come in and fire rounds into the area. Tarrek was pissed as he spoke out some very harsh comments at them all. Travis was nearby and quickly spotted a large number of Blue Suns coming in and he knew that this was about to get interesting.

"GET TO COVER!"

…

Travis quickly took out his Laser RCW and aimed right at the female Blue Suns strike team leader and mentally sighed as he loaded a MC MCP cell and unleashed a full auto stream of Laser Fire. His attack literally ripped through her shields and quickly melted through all the armor plating she had as well as Tech Armor. She screamed in pain as the lasers burned and carved her up until the beam cut through her in a few seconds.

Travis watched her drop dead and quickly dove for cover when the rest of the funny bunch of Blue Suns came at them all. Zaeed fired a precise burst of his Vindicator into the face plate of one of the Mercs and dropped that one dead while Miranda's Biotics sent two more flying out the window. Angela's precise shooting coupled with Garrus' shooting skills brought down a number of the Blue Suns, but soon their scanners picked up more hostile contacts on the lower floor.

Angela spoke to the rest of her team as she and the others reloaded.

"ZAEED! TRAVIS! DEAL WITH THE ONES COMING UP!"

Both men nodded and soon headed off to intercept their uninvited house guests, they did not have to wait for long as the bunch came in hard. One of then got a burst of mass accelerator rounds right in the face, dropping him while Travis aimed his laser RCW at a Turian carrying heavy weapons and he fired out a stream of laser fire. The Turian got cut down and he soon moved to tossing out another Plasma Grenade while Zaeed provided covering fire. The rest of their targets soon fell but they had little time to relax when a loud boom was heard where the rest of the team were. Both looked at one another and headed back there to help the others as it could only have been from the gunship.

Travis however reacted fast enough to knock Zaeed to the side and he ducked as well when a large piece of flying debris came at them. If he had not done that, they would have been hit and they both knew it. Travis turned to see Miranda in cover but was trying to shake the cobwebs from her brain from the results of the blast.

Angela was fine but had a cut on her arm, no doubt from one of the shrapnel that got past her weakened shields and through a weak area of the Armor. But it was clear that Garrus was the one who got the worse of it right now. His armor was badly damaged, chunks were torn off and Travis could see a lot of blue blood coming from them. Angela's screaming of Garrus' name was proof that it was bad.

The former Courier and the rest of the team soon unleashed a lot of firepower on the gunship and it's unfinished repairs made it easier to deal with. But it still deployed more of the surviving Blue Suns at them. Judging from their Tech Armor and improved gear they apparently were the heavy hitters and in greater numbers. This forced them to divide their attention to them and the gunship.

Miranda and Zaeed quickly took to dealing with the Blue Sun troops and Angela as well as Travis dealt with the Gunship and they had to do it fast as Garrus was in a very bad way. Angela fired her weapons at the ship and used the Grenade Launcher she had but the weapon soon ran dry and she was then hit by a slug that knocked her back though her shields held off the worst of the hit. Miranda and Zaeed were still tied down so they could not help as the mercs still alive were really persistent bastards. Angela got up again but the female commando was forced to cover by another hail of weapons fire from the Gunship and once more suffered another wound and soon that was followed several more missiles coming in towards them.

Angela managed to get to cover and so had the still wounded Garrus, but Angela was wounded a third time and nearly knocked unconscious.

…

Travis was enraged by this and quickly took out none other than his Plasma Caster and began to unleash a hailstorm of plasma bolts from the heavy energy weapon into the Gunship as Shepard was recovering from the shockwave of the missiles the bastard Batarian used on them. The plasma tore through the armor and finally one splashed on the cockpit, melting the glass and that allowed Travis to chunk in one of his Plasma Grenades and soon the entire cockpit was in flames while Shepard recovered enough to unload the last rounds of her Vindicator. The rounds hit into the hole his Plasma Caster made and soon the Gunship blew up in a fiery mess. But a good portion of the incoming firestorm was heading for both Shepard and Garrus.

Travis quickly moved to cover both Shepard and Garrus as his combat trench coat was fire retardant and it helped prevent fire and debris to get the team while Zaeed also got into cover alongside Miranda who managed to dispatch her last foe before getting into said cover.

The feel of the heat and shrapnel was bad but at least his trench coat handled the fire while the Kinetic Barriers attached to his Elite Riot Armor blocked the super heated shrapnel before they failed and the armor plating took over. Thankfully the blast had been brief and had not lasted long though Travis had no doubt he was going to be sporting some bad welts and burns on his back later. That meant a trip to the Medical Bay again, but he decided to inject himself with some Med-X for now to dull the pain and focus on other matters.

As Travis looked at the critical state Garrus was in, he looked to see how concerned Shepard was and he quickly went to work taking out a makeshift tourniquet as well as a number of bandages that he had with him via Pip-boy storage and began to bind up Vakarian's wounds as best he could as the blue blood hit the cloth. It was not what he had in mind but it would do for now as Shepard began to apply Medi-gel to her long time friend and he could tell that she was truly worried by the state of the Turian.

This was going to be a long day though he was still confused by a lot of details on this whole mess that apparently had to do with him. For now he was not going to reveal he was aware of what was going on, not until he got the full story on what exactly was going on here.

That would be for later and he already had some people in mind to ask on what was going on here.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

There we go, at least we now deal with the first of several issues, namely the meeting between Travis and Garrus. Now keep in mind that since Travis looked and sounded exactly like Kaidan, this will make Garrus very uneasy though eventually he will do what he can to work with the man in question. This will also begin to make Travis curious on what is it that seemed to catch some of Shepard's crew off guard when they saw him the first time…along with Shepard's reactions on occasion with him in the room.

On the way, we have an interlude and the first series of guns Travis uses will now be ready to use as they are outfitted with ME tech to make them able to compete with the firepower of the ME world. The energy weapons will still be in the forefront and soon we will see what Shepard will do with the schematics of the energy weapons that Travis is going to give her to send to the Alliance.

…

To one of my reviewers:

I am not quite sure why you said I was nerfing Travis to be honest, you might need to explain to me a bit more in detail just what exactly are you implying. It was already confirmed that only the most technologically adept factions in the fallout universe had developed Force-field generators used to secure doors and access ways in lieu of metallic blast doors. This naturally is seen with the Enclave, the Shi in San Francisco, possibly the Commonwealth since they did build androids, and the gang at Big Empty, as well as what remains of China.

But even then I have not seen ANY attempt in any Fallout lore to install a Force field system into Power Armor since if one thinks about it, it would consume a LOT of time and resources. Not to mention that is just prototyping the darn thing once you have a test subject. Remember that the Enclave's first generation of Advanced Power Armor had a LOT of accidents and fatalities until it was perfected and then gave rise to the Mark II Advanced Power Armor, as well as the Tesla Armor in Fallout 3, along with the Hellfire Power Armor.

And that was AFTER the war, even if they did have the tech, resources, and facilities, the Enclave would still need to do a lot of work o make the tech for the Force field Generator portable as well as human sized. And even then there is no telling just how expensive the idea is going to be in grey matter, materials, facilities, and manpower.

I already mentioned that even at the highest levels in Fallout New Vegas as well as my best armor and weapons, my character who Travis is based on gets mauled by the bad guys if I am not careful.

So WHY are you saying that I am nerfing the guy?

…

Now on the subject of pairings…

Some have suggested I try having Miranda with Travis which is promising to be honest since Travis is a lot more open minded than most and he is not afraid in the least to flirt with Miranda. Not to mention the fact that Miranda does have a number of good points despite her cold and reserved demeanor. Not to mention her softer and more gentle side, along with the amazing body figure and looks to go with it.

I like the idea of Travis and Miranda myself though I prefer to be more flexible with who I plan to pair with who in this one. Kelly herself can be a viable choice to some extent since she does have her good points, jokes about her bubbly personality aside.

I might decide to recruit Kasumi next once we do the Interlude bit on the next chapter and allow Travis to interact with Garrus and the rest of the crew more. Also I will be introducing next Travis's new arsenal of Mass Accelerator weapons from his old bullet arsenal. Kasumi is the drop dead sexy ninja like thief and sometime assassin and saboteur and she would be interested easily enough with Travis and the same could be said for him as well to some extent. So she might be also included in the whole idea but that is still up for debate right now since there is still a ton of things left for me to deal with.

…

As for Jack and possibly Samara and Tali, we'll see how things go.

Jack will possibly remind Travis of the female Fiend members with her psychotic tendencies to some extent but he will not be judging too much. He does not believe in the idea of harming anyone unless they try to turn him into a carcass after all. And Jack does have her moments as well as her own story so we'll let Travis learn about her. But don't expect some of their meetings to go all cool and patient since Travis will not be easily convinced that having Jack onboard is a wise idea despite her powers.

Samara is going to be rather interesting to write about since she happens to be one of the OLDEST beings Travis will meet in the flesh, but still look drop dead beautiful at the same time. She also has morals that he can respect quite easily since Wasteland justice usually ends at the barrel of a gun, and he has more than once dispensed justice with weapons and bare hands. Samara would be an interesting woman to pair Travis with and even if Travis is technically a baby in the eyes of an Asari of Samara's age, he will be quite an interesting person either way.

Will the interest turn to romantic? Not too sure but hey, this IS fanfiction after all.

Tali is the attractive female alien with the personality of a gear head that Travis can respect easily enough, though you can bet his similarity to Kaidan Alenko is really going to make Tali wonder what the devil is going on here. Naturally Travis is going to be very confused by the way Tali will act around him and would want to know more. Plus he would also be curious about Tali and her people, namely since despite the differences, Tali is human like sans the hands and legs.

Though I wonder how he would react at the idea of seeing Tali's face outside of the mask if they got romantic? Now that we know that in terms of facial features, the Quarians as so close to humans that if we got rid of the hands and feet bit and replaced them with human appendages, they could easily pass for humans, this should be fun!

Anyhow…that's it for pairings at this point.

…

Any other suggestions before I move on to the rest of my work should be sent to me via PM, along with critiques and complaints. I might not be very receptive due to what happened, but I'll do my best to answer any comments and questions.

But flames are to be kicked out the second I get them. They I DO NOT need.


	8. Chapter 8

Fallout New Vegas Mass Effect

Disclaimer: I once more state that I do not own Mass Effect or Fallout so stop hounding me already you fee hungry lawyers!

Intermission

…

In the Normandy's Medical Bay…

Chakwas was very busy trying to do all she could to help patch up Garrus' current condition for the past few hours and much to her surprise, she was not alone as Travis had been there the whole time. Apparently Travis' talents also included a good deal of medical training though he had to play catch up with Turian Physiology since he technically never had to deal with non-human patients. Still to see him in action was a good thing and to know that he could use those same skills in the field would really save her on headaches.

It had been touch and go to be sure, but finally Garrus was stable though they had to use some level of cybernetics to make sure he did not bleed to death. When she heard that Archangel was actually Garrus and he was in critical shape, she wasted no time getting ready for the worst possible scenario, and a missile to the face was REALLY cutting very close to the whole worst case scenario routine. Once he was cleared she relaxed and turned to Travis and spoke to him.

"Thanks for your help Travis, for someone who is not a licensed doctor, you are surprisingly adept in medicine."

The man grinned as he was out of his armor and had switched to using some Wasteland Doctor fatigues…minus the blood there, though the red was now blue with Garrus' blood from earlier.

"Thanks there Doc, I was always a quick learner, and if you live in the Wasteland."

Travis did not grin this time and looked tired and recalling past events.

"If you live there, having medical knowledge, no matter how simple or mundane can be the difference between being alive or not. So yeah, I had to learn pretty quick, even more so since it's my first time patching up a real live alien."

Chakwas nodded in understanding at Travis' words as she had no problem imagining the kind of horrors the man had gone through to live in such a world like that alternate Earth. As a medical professional, Karin had to admit that the idea of surviving in such a land was a daunting task…even more so with such rampant areas of highly toxic chemicals, pools of highly potent radiation, and of course the animal and human dangers as well as the mutations.

"Well, it is good to know that you have such a skill set, bringing you here at first to fight the Collectors was…an unorthodox move, but after seeing the records and seeing you work on healing Garrus, I can safely say that having you here was a good move. And I must admit that despite not being trained in our…reality's medical advances, tools, and medical supplies you adapted very quickly which is quite a feat."

Travis smiled and replied.

"I guess it is, though I got to be honest Doc, if you ever managed to somehow go to my world and give even a sliver of this tech you have in this Medical Bay alone back in the Mojave. Then you would really do a great deal of good."

The doctor nodded as she had been told of the harshness and brutality of the world Travis grew up in, and she was impressed at how one like him grew up…and thrived in such a world gone mad.

"True…at any rate, how are you doing?"

"Feeling all right, but I guess a medical check up won't hurt."

Chakwas raised an eyebrow at that one and for good reason. Usually when tending to patients in a military ship she had to order them to the Medical Bay for their own good. She lost count of the number of cases she had to help and the number of bone headed people she had to deal with afterwards. Even she had to order Shepard more than once to come to the Medical Bay for a proper medical evaluation when she saw that Angela was running herself ragged.

This was the first time ANYONE willingly came in for a medical checkup. But the doctor was more than willing to take advantage of the whole thing and she made that very clear to Travis.

'All right, let's see how you are doing shall we?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Travis was more than willing to let Chakwas do her thing and even allow her to take a blood sample for medical purposes. Once he was done with the full scan from the Alliance Doctor, he was given the green light to be dismissed from the room, and when he asked when was Garrus going to be given the all clear, Chakwas looked over the scans and replied that it would not be long since Garrus was a tough Turian and had been through a lot of things with them two years ago when he first joined the Normandy. It was still touch and go however even with the cybernetics and medical gear, as well as his help.

…

In his quarters…

Travis soon got to his place and decided to get himself bathed once more to make sure that any trace of the stench of Omega was no longer on him

As he got himself cleaned up and switched to wearing a regular set of Leather Armor, he moved out of the room which was his own and decided to drop by Miranda's office for a bit of a chat. It was not like there was a law against that sort of thing though he made sure to knock on the door on the off chance she was doing something. As he got there, he also made it a point to try and get something to help him in the battles ahead. One thing he learned and kept close to him was to always have an ally who was his long range eyes and ears.

ED-E did that in the past but that plucky Eye-bot obviously was not by his side anymore so he had to make due for himself. Since he would usually travel with Rex, Raul, Cass Boone, or Veronica if ED-E was not around to help him with the sensors as the others were very capable themselves. But seeing as there were indeed robots here, then perhaps…he could try building himself a backup companion, one that had the same functionality as ED-E but with far greater options. And possibly better weapons and armor. His time in the Sink as well as with ED-E and at the Divide made him more familiar with Robotics as well as A.I though he made sure to chat with EDI and Mordin first as well as possibly some of the engineers here, namely Ken and Gabby.

For now though, he decided to chat with Miranda on the matters that were cooking in his noggin. As he got to the door, he was about to knock when the door opened and there was Miranda typing away and she looked at him with some level of surprise. She seemed to have switched to a different but no less eye catching uniform of black and gold along with sections of armor there as well as a visor of sorts. One thing was certain, even in whatever outfit she had on her right now…Miranda Lawson was very beautiful, and Travis made sure not to do something dim witted like drool and be slack jawed like an idiot.

Miranda looked at him and raised an eyebrow as she had not expected him to visit her of all things.

"Is there something you need Mr. Marlowe?"

Travis then decided to answer her, no time to make comments on her choice of outfit, there would be time for that later anyway.

"I came here to ask if you still plan to ask me those schematics for my energy weapons."

"Perhaps, why do you ask?"

"Well, don't ask me anymore since I figured giving you some schematics may help in the long run."

Miranda was a bit surprised as she had planned to ask Travis once more about his energy weapons since they had proven their worth once more in the field. The raven haired beauty was keen to try and get on Travis' good side since he had so far proven himself to be a man of his word even though he was never meant to be part of Shepard's crew in the dossiers.

"You will?"

"Yep, I have a feeling that when the time comes having more weapons in the arsenal will be helpful plus I already plan to give Shepard some of the schematics to be used by the Alliance. You might have issues about that Miranda, but when the Reapers arrive, everyone will need a chance to fight back…and since I'm technically a wild card right now, I think it's better to have these weapons ready for combat, besides, right now you're the only ones who can help make spare weapons in case some get broken and out of action."

Miranda was surprised but pleased to some extent as this was a chance that could indeed tip the scales in their favor in the battle with the Reapers as well as the Collectors. Though she also kept in mind that Travis had given the same offer to Shepard apparently from what he had just said and all she could hope for was that this would indeed be helpful if the Alliance finally admitted that Shepard was right all along about the Reapers and the fact that they were coming to invade this galaxy soon.

"That sounds like a fair deal, though you did give Shepard the same offer I take it?"

"Yeah, and so far I still feel it's a wise move."

Miranda had some doubts about that, but if Shepard could manage it, the feat of convincing the Alliance and the Citadel of the legitimacy of the Reapers, then they were going to need it. Even if the Illusive Man said otherwise and that the technology should be used by Cerberus as Cerberus were the ones who were better able to defend and bring Humanity's potential to the highest level possible, she felt personally that despite it's flaws the Alliance could still help. Miranda's reasons for joining Cerberus were not merely because she was accepting of the mission of Cerberus, but to serve as a way to protect her sister Orianna from her father, who once worked with Cerberus for the same goals but had cut ties when she worked with them.

She was pleased to use whatever resources and assets that Cerberus provided her for the mission that was needed, but she was also rather careful in what would happen in the long run. Namely with Wilson as she had long suspected that something was up with his recent behavior before he betrayed them. The failure of not being able to discover until it was too late that he betrayed them grated at her at times. And unlike what some would think of her behind her back…they did not know that while she was considered the top agent thus far by the Illusive Man, this also meant she was able to see and learn things that would have made unaware recruits balk at the way Cerberus did things.

She was driven and dedicated to the mission, but she was hardly a full blown fanatic as some of the things Cerberus had done were not the least bit acceptable in her eyes. Not to mention she was familiar with how far Cerberus had gone before she became part of it. As well as the numerous times that certain Cerberus cells went rogue, namely the ones that killed Kahoku, took the Rachni, and also the Thorian Creepers as she knew how all of then turned out due to her reading the reports on Shepard's actions in the past prior to her dying and then brought back by Project Lazarus . And of course she was well aware that despite being part of it, Jacob still distrusted Cerberus and naturally had good reason to as well.

But she balanced her unease with the facts that in there were groups that could do worse, and had. There were slavers who preyed on human colonies, alien gangs who attacked humans, the willingness of the Citadel to not help human colonies under attack such as when the first Reaper appeared. And now the icing on the cake as it were was the fact that none of them were willing to either admit to the fact that the Reapers were indeed real or do something about it to at least assure the public that they were ready for this threat, and she was well aware of what the Turians did to Shanxi.

She had no doubt that no matter how much the Citadel tried to ease things up with the Alliance and how the Alliance tried to make peace with the Citadel, there would always be those who hated the Turians for what they did. And some Turians who rubbed it into the faces of humans for how they were bested only helped to fuel the fires of animosity between their races. These were undeniable facts despite how many peaceful overtures were made on either side and would not be wiped away even if it had been a number of years since the First Contact War.

And she knew some members of Cerberus had been there themselves and thus had very good incentive to join Cerberus. In fact a number of some of the operatives she met had lost members of their family to the Turians who attacked Shanxi, thus they had more than ample reason to hate the Turians, others were disgruntled colonists who for one reason or another hated the Citadel and distrusted the Alliance, though attacks by slavers and pirates were factors as well.

But with the Reapers coming, then the animosity had to be put aside…it had to be for the survival of life itself in this galaxy, or at least that was how she saw it in her own private mind's eye. But for now they had to focus on protecting human colonies from further attacks by the Collectors before they gathered enough evidence to finally convince the Citadel and the Alliance to do something…even if in her own view they could already be out of time.

"Fair enough I suppose, if you truly wish to do this then, I can't exactly say no since these can make a difference."

Travis grinned and looked at the desk she had and whistled in appreciation for the looks.

"Back in the Mojave…only time I ever saw pristine desks were back in those buildings that were never looted or blown up. Just how much money did they pour into this ship Miss Lawson."

"Quite a tidy sum actually, only thing coming close was the amount we spent on Shepard."

"I can imagine…nothing like what happened to me when I got shot in the head."

Miranda nodded but also was impressed at how Travis survived such trauma.

"I recall you spoke of that…it's hard to imagine having to be shot twice and buried alive…sorry I guess bringing that up is not something you wish to hear."

Travis nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, it is, anyway, I guess you want to see what other toys in the energy weapons department I have?"

"Yes, though I must confess that strange rocket launcher you have used before was interesting."

"You mean Ol' Red Glare? Yeah, interesting piece of hardware that one, first time I got my hands on that was something. But I gotta tell ya Miss Lawson, nothing was more entertaining than firing Hive rockets right into a Legion camp without any slaves in the firing line to worry about to cause all manner of hurt. And when you use the heavy explosive rounds…heh it is fun."

…

In the Comm. Room…

Garrus normally would have gone to the Normandy's weapons bay to see the armaments on the ship, after he heard the Normandy being lost and Shepard dead, he had made a silent promise to hunt down those responsible when he could. And if he had the chance to use a ship, he was going to make sure that the new ship, even if was not the Normandy had the meanest guns it could get to make sure that what happened to the Normandy would not happen on his watch.

But now he held that off for three reasons.

First the fact that Shepard was alive before him was something he was still trying to wrap his head around. Not that he was troubled in the least, it was good to have her back among the living. The only question was…was this REALLY Shepard or something else who was wearing Shepard's face and form? She had been gone for two years so he had no idea if this was indeed Shepard even with the gear she had on her when he saw her. Part of him wanted desperately to believe without question that this was indeed Shepard, but he had to be careful either way.

The second was the fact that she was with Cerberus, he recalled full well those sick experiments that he had seen with Rachni and Thorian Creepers. Not to mention all the time rumors he personally dug up in his time as a C-Sec detective and as a vigilante. That was not even counting the anger he had personally seen from Shepard when she found out that Cerberus had killed Admiral Kahoku, sacrificed many good Marines, and of course Toombs. So the idea of Shepard being in with Cerberus was completely insane it was almost heretical. But here she was so he had to know what was going on.

And of course…number three…

The Kaiden Alenko lookalike who was now possibly walking around the Normandy and giving both Joker and Chakwas, apart from Shepard serious problems since they all knew, him included that Kaiden was dead, died a hero on Vrmire. Who was this person? Was he just some merc who had been altered to resemble Kaiden to allow Cerberus to better control Angela? The very second he saw this…Travis Marlowe, if that was indeed was his name, he felt like someone had punched him in the gut and then kicked him in the gizzards for good measure.

That was why he decided to speak to Shepard.

"We need to talk."

Angela KNEW that this was going to happen and she wished that Garrus had chosen a better time to grill her about all this. But she knew that he deserved to know, apart from Chakwas, and Joker, Garrus was one of her closest friends right now and she really needed to talk to him. She just wished the Illusive Man did not have so many damned bugs in this ship. Had he ever heard of the term privacy?!

Hell, even if he would deny it if she asked him point blank in the face, she suspected that paranoid maniac might have even cameras in areas that were technically off limits. She did not fully trust EDI's comment that there were no cameras in the showers, either her own or that of the female crew, even Miranda's might be bugged by that guy with cameras he might have personally had installed without anyone else knowing about it.

(He might be getting his jollies from it too!)

She knew that she was really going off the deep end if she was thinking that TIM might be a closet pervert and she MIGHT be turning a tad too paranoid herself to think like this. But considering Cerberus, that might not be too far from the truth. She soon shelved that idea and decided to hell with it, if the Illusive Man wants to listen in then let him. But she made a mental note to one day scan her room VERY carefully and remove anything out of place.

"Yeah, I figured that Garrus."

"I heard you were dead Shepard…hell I literally spent half the first week trying to find out if it was true. After I did get word that it was true I decided to spend some time trying to honor you by doing what you told me in C-Sec…but I still left…not my choice this time though."

"I'm sorry…"

"I…guess I am too…not that I missed the red tape and all the procedures and the political BS I had to wade through mind you. But I tried to make it work for your sake since you were right, if I don't have the people's trust at all, I'm just a thug with a badge. But when they shoved all your hard work out the window by denying what you and I know to be true, I had it and left even if I know I was letting it all go to waste. But I have to know something."

"What?"

"Is…that…really you Shepard?"

"Come again?"

"Look…I know that did not come out right or anything, but…"

Angela glared at Garrus briefly for the question, but then recalled her own questions to Jacob when she woke up way back at Lazarus Station, she asked him point blank if she was a clone and not the original, and Jacob replied that he was very sure that she was who she was and not a clone. Not to mention that Miranda had grilled her on her memories which were all very much intact as she recalled it clearly. In that regard, Garrus' question was both expected and very much welcome. But that did not lessen the sting as she had hoped that he would welcome her back, without having to ask questions like this one.

"It's me Garrus, remember that time back on Noveria where you and I have to share a seat since the Mako was cramped? I recall the time one Geth Rocket Trooper fired a missile at us, the cannon overheated and the barriers were down. I made it jump to avoid the blow and fired the mass accelerator to shred that Geth but you did not strap in and then you ended up facing me and you have your hand on..."

Garrus began to shake his head and spoke.

"Okay…Okay I'm convinced it's you…please don't tell anyone else about it! Bloody embarrassing that one."

"Oh? If memory serves you left your hand there a lot longer than normal."

"Stop!"

Angela laughed and finally Garrus laughed though groaned in pain again as his scars were not fully healed.

"Ow! I thought I said not to make me laugh. It's good to see you Shepard."

"Likewise Garrus, I know that you don't like the fact I am on a Cerberus vessel and a crew, but I have good reason for it."

Garrus nodded in agreement.

"I know you do Shepard, you've never made any decision until you've seen all the pros and cons of it all, so if you are here then it's for a good reason. Though you can bet we should never forget all the sick things that Cerberus did when we found out about them and when we decided to avenge Kahoku and his men, we can't trust the Illusive Man or any of his lackeys right off the bat until we know just where we stand with them."

"I know, that's why I'm glad you're here Garrus, If I am going to hell at least I've got you to watch my back and yank my ass out of the fire."

"You realize that this plan naturally involves me going into hell with you right? Just like old times then…now, we got to talk about…him."

"I know…Travis."

"Who the heck is he Shepard? Was he some creation of Cerberus or something to make you more accepting of the mission? I SAW Kaiden die on Vrmire so I know that he is not coming back…I know this sounds painful and believe me I wish I never brought it up, but now I see him. What's going on Shepard?"

Angela sighed once more and rubbed the bridge of her nose to try and find a possible explanation to give to Garrus. He was one of her oldest friends ever since she became a Spectre so he deserved to be told what was going on.

"All right…but sit down, I can bet that after this is over, you and me are going to need a drink."

…

Elsewhere…

After Travis had spent some time chatting with Miranda and giving her more of the weapon schematics, Travis headed down to the lower floors of the Normandy to get a feel of the ship once more, sure he did that before, but somehow doing it again calmed his nerves. As he got there, he turned to see none other than the recently added Zaeed Massani currently walking in his direction. The man stopped and spoke once more to the Courier.

"Well, what brings you down here?"

"Just getting a feel of the place, not to mention planning on chatting up with the engineers here on something that's on my mind recently, the usual sort of thing, plus I think I try to get them to play my kind of card game, not that Skyllian Five poker stuff. You look like you've been through hell though."

Zaeed laughed and replied.

"Been to hell plenty of times, you have the look too yourself."

"Huh?"

"I've seen my fair share of vets kid, they all have something that tells me they've seen hell. You've got it, fact that you're still alive means you're tougher and meaner than most. And if this mission is what they say it is, then you're right at home here."

"Suppose so."

"So…how'd you get drafted into this mission kid?"

"Let's just say that I'm something of a Good Samaritan, though I'm called the Scourge by my enemies, I guess my codename of Warbringer can say that much."

Zaeed looked at him with a raised eyebrow and laughed a bit more.

"Warbringer huh? After seeing your little performance and your guns in action, I'd say the name fits. As for this…let's just say that a certain bastard gave this to me, shot me here and left me to die. Thing is…rage is a hell of an anesthetic."

Travis nodded in agreement.

"I get that…so some guy shot you in the face eh? Same thing with me too…only in my case, the bastard who shot me, shot me in the head…twice if I might add and buried me too."

Zaeed was a bit wide eyed at that and was soon intrigued.

"He shot you twice...in the head...and buried you? That's tough news kid but if you're here he apparently didn't finish you off properly, you ever found him?"

Travis nodded and gave a sadistic grin.

"I found him all right, didn't kill him right away…oh no I had plans for that little shit in the suit."

"Oh? Do tell."

Zaeed listened to Travis as he recounted how he fought his way out from the literal grave, tracked down evidence to nail Benny to the wall with his own crew. And when Benny's former mate Swank gave him the go ahead, he covertly stole Benny's gun…the SAME one he was shot with and then without further ado after making Benny squirm forced him to fight. He told Zaeed how happy he was to see the sneer of confidence on Benny's mug drop faster than a sack of potatoes thrown over the side of the building when he saw his gun was no longer with him. Only to see Travis take out said gun…and then pump him full of lead.

Needless to say Zaeed was smiling like mad at the story, and when he was done, the mercenary laughed.

"Now THAT is poetic justice kid! Heh, I guess he regretted not ever making sure you really were dead huh?"

"Yeah he did, at any rate, I've got some things to take care of down here, you want to trade stories?"

Zaeed grinned and replied to that.

"After that tale you gave me, I think I can rustle up some stories of my own. Not as interesting in my view, but I think it will be worth your while."

Travis nodded and soon headed off to meet up with Gabby and Ken to see if they could help him understand just how this e-zero stuff worked and how he could try what he had in mind as something of an experiment which was far off into the future. Once he was done with that part of the whole thing. He also had an idea to try but needed the parts for said plan to actually work in the long term, and that meant taking a trip down…or in this case of location, up the Armory and see if he could talk to Jacob and get that order up and running.

…

Shepard's room…

Shepard thought about the events leading up to having Garrus back up on his feet and it was good to know that one more familiar face was there with her. Garrus was always a good friend to her and while he was rough around the edges due to the red tape he dealt with back on the Citadel, he had his heart in the right place. She recalled the times she had done his best to remind him to never take the easy route…and not become a thug with a badge because if he did, he would wind up no different than the criminals he fought with.

She recalled that he said about his feelings getting in the way that got his team killed, what it was, she could tell that it was eating Garrus and she did not want to lose him to whatever vendetta he had. He also told her about his still lingering doubts about Travis, all of which were fairly logical and very much truthful in her POV.

In fact, after he was done listening to what she had to tell him about Travis, his origins, and whatnot, he pretty much gave her the Turian equivalent of the 'Are you Shitting me?!' look on his face. To which she replied that she was NOT shitting him in the slightest. Garrus was not happy with such a story and asked if she really bought it and she showed him the medical records of Travis. Needless to say when he saw just what the medical reports said about Travis Marlowe made him look like he had just decided to eat his words. Which in hindsight he was doing just that and he looked at her for assurance that this was not some elaborate joke since there was no way anyone could be alive with what Travis had in him.

She gave him a nod and naturally Garrus shook his head and replied to her.

She could not help but recall what exactly he said.

"Okay…so now I am inside a ship that resembled the old Normandy, with one of my most respected friends who had somehow been brought back to life, to go after the most reclusive and obviously dangerous race in the Terminus, the Collectors who up to now were considered myths. We're both on a suicide mission in all respects to go through the Omega 4 Relay which mind you has NOT been mapped for who knows how long, so for all we know is going to let to either dark space or hell to wipe out the Collectors and their Reaper masters. And now to top it all off, we have with us a guy who not ONLY looks and sounds like Kaiden Alenko, but has enough augmentations, implants, and…mutations from living in an alternate Earth which has been literally lasted to kingdom come as you Humans would call, to classify him as a cross between a human super soldier and a Krogan. Did I miss anything?"

Shepard chuckled at that and recalled her response and his afterwards.

"Nope, that pretty much sums it up Garrus."

"Heh…just like old times…I have your back Shepard, count on it."

She sighed as she recalled that answer and decided to take a break and make the most of it before she went back into the grind of things. Plus she planned to check up on what else they could work on before they tangled with the Collectors, she still owed them for not only her first death, but the deaths of good people on the old Normandy and the ship itself. She also had to work on dealing with the nightmares coming in every now and then. One would think that dying removes the memory of the trauma…but apparently being brought back to life had allowed those memories to stay in her.

She recalled everything and the emotions that hit her at times was too much to deal with and she was thankful that the crew she was with kept her focused. Even Miranda at the very least helped her from zoning out and recalling those memories. She sighed and then reached for a nearby cabinet and took out something that made her relax.

It was a simple white board that was used for sketching with charcoal easels. She had her own stock of the charcoal material and was something she enjoyed doing and it helped calm her nerves. Kaiden….her Kaiden once found out about it and actually was impressed when she made a picture of him using his Biotics. That plus a few other incidents of working with the Biotic Lieutenant had eventually led to them being romantically inclined to one another…but then.

(No…I can't dwell on it…he would not want me to, he made his choice and knew that it was the right…)

(Damn it…)

Angela felt her tears come and she decided not to deny it anymore and let them flow. Most people who did not know her very well would have been shocked to see the Heroine of Elysium bawl like a baby, but she was not some superhuman being despite whatever gene therapy she had as an N7 and whatever cybernetics Cerberus stuffed into her to bring her back from the dead, she was a woman who had lost so much ever since she was brought back to life literally. And in some ways, it relieved her to know that she could still cry since if she could not do so and feel such emotions flow through her tears, then she really was not Angela Shepard anymore and was nothing but a machine.

She carried on for a while longer and then managed to wipe away her tears and recover some of her energy as she decided to work on the board. She thought of a subject that could be used as a drawing and then she recalled something that might help. It was the memory of Niagara Falls that she had seen before on Earth once…it was a long time ago but seeing it in her mind helped her regain her focus and also cleared her mind of the doubt and worries in her mind.

She needed that a lot.

And she also began to wonder on how she would break the news to Hackett and the others on the new tech she planned to bring them. There was also the need to make sure that the tech in Travis' energy weapons would be made up to scale for ships and more besides. These weapons if made into ship grade sized gear would help even the odds in all respects if they were going to one day fight the Reapers. Plus if they could make those weapons mass production friendly, she might ask for them to make them more…presentable in the long run since she had to admit the look of those guns was a bit too retro.

She wondered briefly in amusement on how Garrus would react to owning his very own Laser Sniper Rifle. And as for her, owning a Plasma Rifle sounded very promising and could be a major edge in a fight with the Collectors. Though naturally those weapons would need to work with their technology and be less…retro in appearance in her view. Looks aside though she hoped that once she had done all she could she would go and establish a personal connection with Hackett and give him the data. Apart from Anderson, Hackett and a few others were the only ones she trusted in the Alliance right now.

…

Normandy Armory…

Jacob looked at the request for parts and supplies given to him by Travis and spoke with a raised eyebrow.

"You want me to get you all these…plus a LOKI Mech?"

Travis grinned and nodded.

"Yep…got me a very interesting idea for a fighting partner."

"No offense meant, but what's wrong with having us as partners? We already have quite the team here right now even if we're still a bit short."

"I'm not complaining at all actually, it's just that…well even if I've been on the receiving end of weapons on robots, I do know that there are some I trust, my ED-E and Rex being the ones in question."

"Yeah well, if you plan to do this, you better make sure not to accidentally make an A.I unit, even in Cerberus, A.I's are not exactly well received."

"Even EDI?"

"EDI's a special case, but we do have shackles on her data code to prevent anything she might do to the crew and the ship that can be a threat. Not that I distrust EDI personally but the Geth war with the Alliance doesn't exactly make me feel comfortable, the fact that the Reapers are literally A.I in massive ships that make even the Destiny Ascension look small doesn't help."

"I hear that, still having some extra backup is nice, plus I can try stuffing some tech into the mech I have in mind that may very well up the firepower and armor. Besides that, I will make sure to do things right and let's be honest, at least EDI is a legitimate A.I and not like the ones I've seen like those Robo-brains of those Brain Bots…even if I lived there and dealt with them, it still creeps me out to know that they have actual brains in them."

Jacob frowned a bit that and replied.

"Good point…so let's see what we can do with this plan of yours."

…

A few days later…

Travis was busy working once more on his arsenal and also was happy to finally get some of his new guns that now had mass accelerator technology in them. This tech should at the very least allow him to use his guns again and he could feel a lot more comfortable. The weapons were made to be a bit larger than they were to accommodate the new technology, but he could still make the most of the technology. He then looked over his data-pad on the new LOKI mech that he had been working on with Jacob.

So far he had been able to work on improving the overall armor of the mech while working on lessening the weight at the same time. He also went as far as to use a new fabricated set of Microfusion cells to act as a power source for the mech and it could support a good Kinetic Barrier system to give it added protection. He also went on programming it with a custom made V.I interface he and Jacob had developed alongside Mordin, even EDI expressed interest in the project and helped to some extent on the procurement of the tech.

He even joked to EDI that she could be the mother of the little bot if she liked…to which she replied in her usual fashion, though Travis merely laughed at that. The custom V.I was made to allow the mech to move to cover and could fire well. Not to the point of being a full fledged A.I but enough to be tactical in combat

The mech was nothing like the LOKI that it was based on and was armed not with a pistol like before, but was armed with a procured M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle, a M-3 Predator Pistol, and was armed with a hidden arm blade that was actually made from the blade of one of his Katana swords. It also had a spare armored pack on the back to carry spare thermal clips and was armed with a strong IFF system.

The finished mech was something that Travis was proud of and hoped that he could be able to make it a worthy add on to the crew. Plus on the safe side, he did install a kill switch package into the software that could not be tampered with and only he knew of the phrase to activate it. Once he was done admiring the new tech, he decided to crack open a few of the books that Joshua left him and see if he could brush up on being a learned man as it were.

…

Later…

Shepard called in a meeting for the team hours later and soon they all trooped to the communications room. Garrus was all read and raring to go, along with Mordin, Jacob, Miranda, Zaeed, and of course Travis. She nodded to all of them and decided to get things underway since there was a lot of things to handle…one of them included going back to the Citadel to hire a new squad member as well as make some supply runs, it was high time she got some things for the crew…along with a change in the larder for the rest of the troops and a chance to rest a bit since the last two dossiers were going to be a real pain in the neck.

"Okay…we did well here on Omega and right now we have three no dossiers to deal with. But right now the last two are going to take us all in the proverbial shit storm so I would like everyone to get some R&R however brief it may be. Do what you like for a bit before coming back to the Normandy because I have no doubt that the two or rather three new squad recruits will be hard to deal with."

Jacob nodded and spoke.

"Where to Commander?"

Angela sighed and replied.

"Back to the Citadel, one of our recruits happens to be the well known thief Kasumi Goto."

That particular announcement on the new team member's identity and occupation made the ground team raise their respective eyebrows a bit though Garrus was the first to speak.

"Kasumi Goto? She's well known enough though I can bet that having a thief of her caliber onboard might raise some eyebrows and lead to some rapid changing of passwords."

Angela smirked a bit and spoke.

"Speaking from experience Garrus?"

"Yep…a LOT of C-Sec guys wanted to make it the high point of their career to catch her when she became as well known as she is now. Not really my thing so I never went after her since I was on different cases."

Angela nodded and saw Miranda's look and considering she was in Cerberus there was bound to be a different reason on how she knew Kasumi.

"What about you Miranda?"

"I am well aware of Miss Goto's reputation Shepard, though while I admire her talents and skill set, she has stolen Cerberus data and resources in the past. Needless to say I have some level of doubts that bringing her here would be a wise idea, even with her skill set. Nevertheless she has the talents and skills this mission needs so I am willing to let her past antics slide."

Travis then spoke with a smile.

"Though I hardly doubt that you are not going to just let her waltz into the Normandy without warning her on remembering the sanctity of private property as well as the house rules on the Normandy right Miranda?"

Miranda merely raised an eyebrow at that but it was clear that she actually found that true and amusing. Angela then turned to Travis and spoke to him, hoping to get his view on the new crew member soon to join them in this one way trip of a mission.

"What about you Travis? Are there going to be any problems with having a thief of galactic reputation onboard on your end?"

"Not really, I have slit a few purses and swiped a few items in my day back in the Mojave. So technically I am a thief myself so it hardly bothers me to have another with us. Might even see if I can pick up a few tips and tricks from her if I can do so. Still, I'll make sure to have my gear in lockdown on the off chance she decides to get the sticky fingers syndrome."

Angela laughed a bit at that and afterwards got back to being serious.

"Well then, consider us picking up Miss Goto to be healthy distractions from the rest of our merry band Travis. The next two…are not exactly what you consider…social people. I can wager a guess that Miranda is in the know on this one so I think it's best she handles this part of the briefing for now."

Miranda nodded and began the process.

"First, one of our potential recruits is a Krogan Warlord named Okeer, and he is no ordinary Warlord either as he happens to be among the few Krogan who survived not just the Rachni Wars but the Krogan Rebellions as well. We however won't find him on Tuchanka, he is currently being held on the planet Korlus by a faction of the Blue Suns."

The others in the team were none too happy about this and Mordin who was in the briefing was none too happy about it either. But so far no one was saying anything so Miranda continued with the briefing.

"Okeer is a very dangerous Krogan Warlord and forgive me for being blunt Commander, but he's nothing like Wrex. We have gathered enough data to show that even among the Krogan he is considered a very dangerous, ruthless, amoral, and brutal warlord who dabbled in genetics in a way that also seemed to utterly make his people disgusted towards him. So much so that he was personally exiled by the Krogan from Tuchanka. The reason however that he is a viable recruit is obviously his centuries of warfare experience and the fact that he has a number of dealings with the Collectors and may know a great deal of their secrets, one of which may include why they have been launching attacks on human colonies."

"Currently he is being held by the Blue Suns on the planet Korlus as I mentioned before, the Graveyard of Ships in the Galaxy, no one knows just what they are doing there or why with Okeer being under their hold, but if what we know of Okeer is true, whatever it may be can't be good. We're to extract him out of the planet quickly though one can bet that the Blue Suns will not make it easy as Korlus is at times used as a training ground for boarding crews due to the numerous hulks there that have already been stripped of anything of value. Thus we can bet that Blue Suns opposition will be considerable in that area and no doubt they will have heavy weapons place to protect their base from orbital assault. But since we're not exactly regular forces, they will not be expecting being hit by veritable commando units."

…

Miranda then turned to their next subject, but it was clear to anyone that the next person on the recruitment list was going to be someone who was REALLY going to be another dangerous felon. And they were very much right on the money on this one as soon as the dossier file came up.

"Next is Subject Zero…or rather Jack, a very powerful Biotic who has caused massive amounts of damage to various government locations for the past few years. Not to mention numerous acts of murder, grand larceny, arson, theft, and has a number of triple digit life sentences for all of those. Plus enough bounties on her head that would come close to what you'd expect from a ship building project. While known to be psychopathic, violent, and highly anti-social, Jack's powers as a Biotic are not to be underestimated as she has proven herself more than able to fight on the field."

"I'm well aware that this is highly unorthodox to be putting it mildly but despite all of this, Jack has the power we need to fight the Collectors on their home ground. We have no clue on their numbers, technology and firepower, let alone what sort of skill their forces have if any of them are Biotics as well. Both Jack and Okeer are powerful assets here, risky to be sure but worth the risk if the Collectors are the enemy."

"That's putting it mildly."

Garrus said with annoyance at the idea of bringing a fully psychotic Biotic onto the Normandy. Travis sighed and rubbed his forehead, recalling the time he had to deal with Dean Domino and Dog/God back in the Sierra Madre…Christie he could accept but those two were a whole new league all together. And now he felt like he was going to be dealing with another version of the two combined. The only things he could hope for could be summed up in three things.

Jack was not schizophrenic since the last thing he needed was to be in a situation mirroring Dog and God.

Jack had the common sense not to start something outrageously stupid.

And that Jack did not start random fights with people as well as underestimate the crew or overestimate herself.

However, considering the situation he was in, he doubted that he was going to have it easy along with the others right now.

"Cerberus has already send a sizable amount of credits to pay for the release of Jack into our custody to Warden Kuril, the head of the station holding Jack. Once we get to where her cryo-cell is, we can leave the station and go on with the mission."

That got Garrus' attention quickly and he growled a bit.

"Kuril? That bare faced bastard is in charge?! Great, this complicates things."

Angela spoke to that.

"You know him?"

"Not personally and for which I am thankful Shepard. The guy was a law enforcement officer on Palaven for a number of years, but in that time frame he has a track record as long as the criminals he arrested. Bribery, extortion, blackmail, murder, and even a few accusations of rape followed that guy. He had however managed to get away because despite being a greedy as hell bastard he is thorough. It was my father who eventually busted him but by the time he was to be arrested, he had already left Palaven and joined the Blue Suns. He might have been an effective cop if one ignored just HOW he got that far but he's dirtier than a restroom in Omega. My father told me all there is know about him and I personally read his rap sheet, so I know this much, we cannot trust him."

Travis then raised his hand.

"Garrus, care to explain the bare face thing you used to describe this Kuril guy?"

Garrus nodded and then pointed to his markings on his facial bone plates.

"It's an old term during my people's Unification War prior to joining the Citadel, Turians like me have colonial markings as a source of pride and solidarity with the colony were either born in or descended from. Even after the war all Turians recognize the symbolism and cultural ties to the markings so anyone who does not have them is not to be trusted. It's also a slang for politicians and you can guess that even with his facial markings, Sparatus, the Councilor of my people is someone I call bare faced…even more so since he always tried to shoot down anything Shepard brought forward or did. How she managed to stomach his words every time he spoke I will always consider a miracle in itself."

That made Shepard smirk in amusement while the others nodded well enough as Jacob spoke.

"So basically this guy's the untrustworthy sort?"

"Right…so I suggest we be very careful around this guy, Kuril's a greedy bastard and I can wager a guess that if he sees a chance to earn more creds off of us. Then I don't need to be the one to tell you he is going to take it."

Miranda then replied.

"Maybe, but the bounty payment for Jack should be enough to convince Kuril not to betray I do agree we will need to take precautions. Even more so since the station Jack is housed in is Purgatory. I'll send you all the data now so you can have an idea on just what we are dealing with."

It did not take long for Miranda to do just that and everyone got in all the details on their next destination once they got to dealing with Kasumi Goto. Purgatory was essentially a converted Ark ship, once used to house animals and more for colonization efforts and re-purposed for holding prisoners. The cells could house a fairly large number of inmates and the staff in the place would no doubt be armed to the teeth with a number of GARDIAN Laser turrets and also a fleet of fighter craft for defense. In a sense it would be an ideal prison since the only way off the station was with a ship and since not many ships were nearby to do just that, the prisoners were easier to manage in a sense.

However, considering who they were dealing with along with who they were to pick up, the crew of the Normandy were willing to bet that it was going to be anything but normal.

…

Travis summed it up however very nicely.

"So let me see if I get this right…we're going to recruit a Warlord who has such a bad reputation that even his own people, paragons of violence and mayhem mind you exiled him. And he is on a planet that according to the data is universally known as the Galactic graveyard for ships surrounded by Blue Sun mercs who we tangled with to save Garrus."

"And then we're going to go into a floating maximum security prison filled to the brim with the galaxy's worst criminals, and by the way is run by an army of Blue Sun mercs under the command of a Turian who might very well fuck with us the very second he gets the chance, to recruit a Biotic with a SERIOUS amount of issues who might very well kill us if we're not careful, did I miss anything?"

Miranda nodded.

"No, that pretty much sums up the agenda after recruiting Miss Goto."

Travis sighed and replied.

"Yep…just another day in the office then. Let's get this over with."

Garrus was surprised at that and replied.

"Another day in the office? You've seen your fair share of crazy I take it?"

Travis merely grinned and replied.

"If Shepard told you about me then you can pretty much guess that I have seen a fairly high amount of crazy. Plus this is not going to be the first time I went into some very crazy situations and faced all manner of crazies and nuts."

"Really? Care to give me an idea on what you've been in before you joined us?"

"Oh I don't know…I had myself lobotomized once and technically should have been a stark raving mad brain dead fool wandering in a massive crater facility full to the forehead with mad robots, escaped bio-weapons, lobotomized humans, cybernetic attack dogs, and more. The place by the way was run by a collection of robots controlled by floating brains of living people who obviously called themselves the Think Tank. But somehow due to the injuries to my brain which I got after being shot in the head…twice I might add, I managed to somehow be myself and eventually got not just my brain back into my head, after having one REALLY disturbing conversation with said brain mind you, but also my heart AND my spine since both said organs were replaced with cybernetic parts before I got them back and all three organs had gotten a heck of an upgrade while I was still on said operating table."

"So trust me Garrus…I got a TON of stories to tell that you would only believe if you were blind drunk and also high on drugs to the point reality is relative."

Travis did all that and then looked at Garrus who was looking at him as if he was trying to process all that he heard.

He naturally grinned at that look on the Turian's face and then spoke in a very amused tone.

"So in answer to said question Garrus, I have been in some really WEIRD messes, tell ya all about it when this is all over."

Angela looked at Garrus and smirked a bit as she coughed to get their attention.

"All right you two, you all can trade stories later, namely when we all can get a chance to relax in the Citadel for the time being after recruiting Kasumi Goto. I also plan to drop by the Human Councilor's office to send some data to the Alliance. I have to make some much needed runs and also get me some brand new clothes. These clothes might be comfortable but I doubt people are going to like it if anyone is seen wearing Cerberus icons and colors in the Citadel grounds of all places. Make sure to check in with Chakwas before you all go for your own plans in the Citadel, and please…NO Cerberus icons. Let's get to it people."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, we now have a new chapter out and at least this story is maturing along nicely. The idea of Travis making a custom made LOKI mech was something that was passed to me by a reader. Basically there should be an A.I companion with the Courier and so I decided to create this custom LOKI Mech for Travis to call in. Now it's not a fully advanced model and it's nothing like EDI just yet…but we will get there soon enough.

It will see action soon enough and will be very useful in the long run for the rest of the team. As of now though the mech will not be deployed since I have yet to find the right place for the little bugger to be deployed in the field with the rest of the team..

So it seems that they will be recruiting Kasumi Goto back at the Citadel, just how will Travis deal with being in the Citadel? You can bet that for a guy like him who is not used to being in space, he will be in for quite an experience being in the place. And just what will happen in the Citadel?

You will just have to wait and see now won't you?

But you can bet that we can move next to the mission that Kasumi has in mind and this will be the part where Travis will play along with Shepard and Kasumi. How will Kasumi and Travis get along with one another once they meet? Will they work well together?

That will have to be seen to be believed, and you can bet that the Courier will be proving himself to be a bag full of surprises once they get the mission underway and get into Hock's mansion.

…

Afterwards we can choose on who's next in the recruitment list…Jack or Grunt.

Who do you want?


End file.
